Price transparency: the three Cs
The SAIF Business Centre is keen to remind all members of its code of practice relating to price transparency.
Number five in SAIF’s code of practice relates to prices and price lists. It states:
5.1. Prices must be fair and reasonable in relation to the particular goods or services supplied, thereby ensuring clients receive fair value at all times. Price lists, detailing all the services offered must be prominently displayed, so they can easily be seen by all visitors to the premises.
5.2. Such price lists must also be available for clients to take away with them or to be presented and left with them when a home visit is made.
SAIF state that it is good practice to review your firm’s policies and procedures annually and it is very important that as a member of SAIF your firm is vigilant in ensuring staff give out price lists and prepare estimates to enquirers in a timely fashion.
An effective review of how good your pricing communication information is could be to ask a respected community servant, local councillor, clergy or charity leader, to comment on your descriptions of price, the layout of information and that it makes sense.
1. Be clear:
Are your price lists available to enquirers in your reception? If not, why not? It is a breach of the Code of Practice, a detriment to consumer protection and could lead to reputational harm to your firm. Make sure your price lists are printed and available for enquirers to take away.
Ensure all your staff are trained to be transparent in sharing your firm’s prices. SAIF recommends members put their standard and simple funeral prices online.
2. Be concise:
Most clients when seeking pricing information do so as a ‘distress purchase’. The language describing funeral services is a foreign experience for many. The Scottish Government is encouraging all funeral directors to use a common glossary of terms in describing funeral costs to clients. Keep it simple, but explanatory.
3. Be consistent:
Ensure that you follow through with client estimates and pricing in a timely manner and any changes to the service are updated in a renewed estimate issued to the client with the additional or changed services and ancillary costs.
For more information and if you have any questions, please ask the SAIF Business Centre or your nearest Executive Committee member for clarification.
Tags: Business, costs, price, regulation, SAIF