The third eBook in the Retention category. It's about the second sale, the third sale and the steady rhythm of repeat purchases that quietly underwrite a small business. The work is mostly about timing, helpfulness and offer design - not pressure.
Members ebook·7 chapters· 45 minute read
Chapter 6
Bundles, Packages and Tiers
How to redesign what you sell so the customer can choose easily, the average sale is bigger and nobody has to be talked into anything.
Sometimes the cleanest way to grow customer value isn't to add an offer. It's to redesign the ones you already have. Instead of a long price list of separate items, you offer two or three thoughtful combinations. Instead of one version of the service, you offer a small ladder of tiers. Instead of selling each piece on its own, you bundle the natural pairings.
Done well, this is one of the kindest moves in the whole eBook. The customer makes one decision instead of five. The average sale is bigger because the bundle includes things the customer would have bought anyway. The conversation gets easier because both sides are looking at the same three options rather than negotiating from scratch.
By the end of this chapter you'll have a clear view of which of the three patterns - bundles, packages or tiers - fits your business, and a sketch of what your offer ladder might look like.
The full chapter walks through bundles for product businesses, packages for service businesses and tiers for both, with worked examples and the pricing logic.
Bundles, packages and tiers - the difference
These three words get used loosely. For this chapter, here's what each one means. A bundle is two or more existing items grouped together at a slightly better combined price. A package is a service redesigned as a fixed-scope, fixed-price unit instead of a per-hour or per-item charge. A tier is a small ladder of versions of the same offer at different levels and prices, designed so that most customers can find one that fits.
Bundles fit product businesses. Packages fit service businesses. Tiers fit both. Most small businesses will use a mix of all three.
Bundles for product businesses
A good bundle does three things. It brings together items the customer would have considered separately. It saves them a small amount compared to buying each item alone. It feels like a complete answer to a real situation rather than a random grouping.
The candle shop's gift bundle: one large candle, one small candle and a wick trimmer in a gift box, at £75 instead of the £85 the items would cost separately. The skincare brand's starter set: cleanser, moisturiser and a small balm for new customers, at £55 instead of £62. The bookshop's gift wrap bundle: any three books, gift wrap and a card, at the price of the three books with the wrap and card included.
The pricing rule of thumb: a bundle should save the customer roughly 10 to 15 per cent on the equivalent ad hoc purchases. Less than that and there's no reason to choose it. More than that and you're discounting healthy revenue without a return.
Packages for service businesses
A package turns a service from 'we'll see how long it takes' into 'this is what you get and what it costs'. Both sides find it calmer.
The therapy practice's six-session anxiety package: six 50-minute sessions, an initial assessment and a written summary, at £540 instead of the £600 the sessions would cost separately. The web designer's small business website package: five pages, a basic content audit, on-page search work and one round of revisions, at £2,400 fixed instead of £40 per hour billed ad hoc. The accountant's small company year-end package: full accounts preparation, corporation tax return, payroll year-end and one planning meeting, at £1,800 fixed instead of itemised hours.
Packages also reduce the awkward conversation at the start of a project where neither side is sure what's included. They turn the question 'how much will this cost?' into 'which of these three packages fits your situation?'
Tiers for both
Tiers are a small ladder of versions of the same offer. The classic three-tier shape - good, better, best - works because it gives the customer a quick way to choose without feeling pressured. Most customers in a healthy three-tier offer choose the middle one, which is usually exactly where the business wants them.
A few tier rules of thumb. Three tiers usually beats two or four. The tiers should have clearly different scope, not just different prices. The middle tier should be the one most customers would actually need - this is where you concentrate the value. The top tier should make the middle one look like obvious good sense. The bottom tier should be a real, usable offer, not a nominal entry point that no one buys.
Designing a clean three-tier offer
Bottom tier: real, usable, the simplest version that solves the basic problem
Middle tier: where most customers should land, with the best value-for-scope balance
Top tier: for the customers with bigger needs or bigger budgets, makes the middle look sensible
Clearly different scope between tiers, not just different prices
A short, plain-language explanation of who each tier is for
Worked example: the photographer's tiered packages
A wedding photographer offers three packages. The Half Day at £900 includes four hours of coverage and an online gallery. The Full Day at £1,650 includes ten hours of coverage, an online gallery and a printed album. The Full Day Plus at £2,400 includes ten hours of coverage, an online gallery, a larger printed album, an engagement shoot and a print release. About 60 per cent of bookings choose the Full Day, 25 per cent choose the Full Day Plus, and 15 per cent choose the Half Day. The clarity of the three options does most of the selling.
Worked example: the consultancy's project tiers
A small consultancy offers three project tiers for new client work. The Diagnostic at £2,400 covers a two-week review and a written report. The Diagnostic Plus Plan at £6,000 covers the diagnostic plus a 90-day implementation plan and three follow-up sessions. The Full Engagement at £18,000 covers the diagnostic, the plan and three months of weekly support. About 30 per cent of clients start with the Diagnostic, 50 per cent take the Plus Plan and 20 per cent go straight to the Full Engagement. The tiered shape gives smaller clients a way in and gives bigger clients a way to commit fully.
What goes wrong with bundles, packages and tiers
Three common failures. The first is bundling things that don't belong together, where the customer feels they're being made to pay for items they didn't want. The second is packaging a service so tightly that the inevitable scope creep eats the margin. The third is designing tiers where the differences are arbitrary or where the cheapest tier is unusable - both of which leave customers feeling manipulated rather than helped.
The fix for all three is the same. Design from the customer's situation, not from your revenue target. Ask: would this customer feel well served by this combination at this price? If yes, the bundle, package or tier is doing its job.
What to do this week
Pick one offer in your business and sketch it as a three-tier ladder. Write a one-line description of who each tier is for, what's included and the price. Don't worry about getting it perfect. Show the sketch to three customers or trusted prospects and ask which tier they'd choose, and why. Their answers will tell you whether the tiers are differentiated enough and whether the middle tier is in the right place. From there, refine the wording and put the ladder on your website.
The recurring principle here is the same: keep existing customers close. The earlier eBook to revisit is Packaging Your Offer, which covers the basics of turning a service into a unit. The next and final chapter, Growing Customer Value Without Pressure, pulls the whole eBook together into a calm rhythm you can run for years.
The rest of this chapter walks through the practical steps, the templates and the checklists you need to put it into action. It includes worked examples, copy frameworks and the small decisions that make the difference between a plan that sits in a drive and one that gets used.
Inside you'll find a step-by-step playbook, a downloadable template, a checklist you can run this week and a short list of common mistakes to avoid before you start.
The full action plan, broken into weekly steps.
Ready-to-use scripts, templates and checklists.
Worked examples for different sized businesses.
Common mistakes and how to avoid them.
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