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I sat in a plumber's office last month listening to him explain why his business was struggling. His prices were competitive. His work was solid. But customers kept calling three other plumbers before making a decision. Every. Single. Time.
"Why do you think that is?" I asked.
He shrugged. "I don't know. They're all basically the same price. Maybe they're just comparing?"
Yeah. They absolutely were. And that's the problem.
Here's something most business owners don't understand: when customers price shop, they're not making a decision about your product or service anymore. They're making a decision about your replacability. And if they can't tell you apart from the competition, you've just told them the only difference that matters is cost.
Congratulations. You've made yourself a commodity.
The fix isn't to lower your prices. The fix is to stop being interchangeable.
Why Customers Start Comparing Prices
Let me paint a picture. You're looking for a plumber. You call three shops. Here's what you hear:
"We provide great service with friendly staff and fast response times. We're family-owned and proud to serve the community."
"We've been in business over 20 years. We're honest, trustworthy, and our customers are like family to us."
"Fast, friendly, professional. We stand behind our work. We're a trusted partner in your community."
Guess what? Every plumber in a fifty-mile radius is saying some version of exactly those things. "Friendly." "Honest." "Family-owned." "Trusted." These words are so generic they've become invisible. They don't differentiate you. They don't give anyone a reason to choose you over the other person saying the exact same thing.
When customers can't tell you apart, they do what humans always do when everything feels the same... they pick the cheapest option.
Price shopping isn't a price problem. It's a positioning problem.
The Phrases That Are Making You Invisible
I want you to look at your website. Your email signature. Your social media. Anywhere you're describing your business. If you see any of these phrases, we've found the problem:
- "Great customer service"
- "Fast, friendly professionals"
- "Family-owned and operated"
- "Trusted partner"
- "Over [number] years of experience"
- "Honest and reliable"
- "Professional staff"
- "Quality work at competitive prices"
These aren't bad phrases. They're just... forgettable. They're what everyone says when they're trying to sound safe and professional without actually saying anything specific.
Compare that to a plumber I worked with who decided to specialize specifically in repairing and renovating plumbing in houses built before 1950. Old homes. Knob and tube wiring in the walls, vintage pipes, foundation issues, weird layouts. He knew everything about it. He loved that work.
So instead of marketing to "anyone who needs plumbing," he repositioned himself as the plumber for old house owners. His website? Full of before-and-afters of vintage bathrooms. His testimonials? Homeowners who'd been turned down by bigger shops because the job was "too complicated." His prices? Higher. And his customers? They paid it without blinking because they couldn't find anyone else who could do what he did.
The second he got specific, he stopped being interchangeable.
Or take the realtor I know who, early in her career, noticed she was closing a lot of business in the tattoo community. Artists, shop owners, musicians, that crowd. She already knew them. Trusted them. Understood their world. So instead of being another realtor listing houses to "anyone looking to buy," she became the realtor who specifically serves the tattoo and creative community. She marketed there. Built relationships there. Positioned herself as the insider who got their lifestyle and their values.
Suddenly she wasn't competing on commissions. She was the only person doing what she was doing.
The moment you get specific about who you serve, everything changes. You're not fighting a price war anymore. You're the only one in the room.
Why Specialists Always Win
Here's the economic truth nobody wants to admit: specialists command higher prices than generalists because they reduce uncertainty.
When you call a generalist plumber, you're taking a risk. Will they understand your old house? Have they seen these kinds of problems before? When you call the old-house specialist, you already know. You've seen the pictures. You know they've solved this exact problem a hundred times. The uncertainty is gone. The premium is justified.
When you're a generic service provider saying the same things everyone else is saying, customers have no way to evaluate whether you're actually good at what you do. All they have left is price. So they price shop.
When you're specific about who you serve and why you're the best at serving them, you've suddenly provided evidence. You've reduced their risk. You've given them a reason to trust you beyond "I hope you're not awful."
Specificity builds trust faster than polished branding ever will.
Think about how you feel when you find someone who actually gets your problem. You don't need to call anyone else. You don't need to price shop. You've found your person. That feeling of relief... that's worth money. And it's exactly the feeling your customers should have when they find you.
The irony is that most business owners are terrified of getting too specific. It feels like they're leaving money on the table. "But what if I turn away potential customers?" Yeah. You probably will. The ones you don't want anyway. The ones who would've price shopped you regardless.
The customers you keep... the ones who stop calling other people and just call you... they're worth infinitely more than a handful of haggle cases you picked up by being the cheapest option.
So stop trying to be everything to everyone. Stop using the same phrases as everyone else. Get specific. Get weird. Get detailed about who you're for and why you're the best at serving them.
Make your customers feel like they've found the one person in the world who actually understands their problem. That's how you stop being price shopped. That's how you build a business that doesn't have to compete on price because there's literally nobody else doing what you do.
Photo by my ChatGPT, a.k.a. Chaz (because my GPT has a voice that’s smooth like Jazz)
