How many times have I heard, “I can get a windows computer for $300 at Wal-Mart?”

One of my favorite companies over the last few years has been Apple. It’s true that the iPod and iPhone is what brought Apple back into the mainstream. Before that, though, professionals who needed the best computing systems were already staunch Mac supporters. Post-iPhone, everyone wants a Mac, but do a lot of complaining about the price.

Apple dipped their toe into the budget market with the iPhone 5c. Surprisingly it’s not selling that well. Consumers still prefer a superior product over a cheap imitation, even when the imitation is made by the same company.

Professionals who value quality gladly pay the premium for a Mac. In the post-Steve Jobs era, I worry if Apple can maintain their commitment to quality over the outside pressure to join the rest of the crowd.

The day Apple starts competing with Google and Microsoft on price, is the day they stop being talked about in every magazine and every blog; including this one.

Quality and Value Over Cheap

I refer often to a blog post written a long time ago by Stephen Chapek entitled, “Why We Don’t Compete on Price.” We believe there are two types of businesses, those who compete on pricing and those who compete on value.

I recently stumbled upon this Inc.com article, written by Sandra Wear. In it, she lists 3 ways you can ensure your focus is on competing on value rather than pricing. Her 3 methods for quality-focused business were insightful so I thought I would share them here.

1. Make Your Target Customer Your Best Friend

How well did Steve Jobs accomplish this? Millions of people waited anxiously for his Keynote address every year. The majority of Apple customers knew him, followed him, and admired him.

At Brilliant, we don’t have Keynote addresses every year, but our customers are still our best friends. If a business had only one paying customer, that customer would get preferential treatment each and every time.

When you’re a Brilliant client, you’re treated as if you’re the only client we have; the most important person in the world to our company. We remember what you like and don’t like, your name, your preferences, and we store them away to make sure we provide the best for you every time.

2. Communicate a Compelling, Benefit-Driven Promise

We make some bold promises.

Promises like making sure each and every chauffeur assigned for event or wedding transportation makes a dry-run days before the date of the event to make sure they know the route, road restrictions, and venue layout. We do this to make sure we arrive at the right entrance, at the right time, and on-time.

We make promises of safe transport in immaculate vehicles. We have a 100% safety rating and each vehicle is completely detailed between each and every use. Each vehicle is maintained with stringent standards of performance and maintenance.

We make the promise of being the finest luxury transportation service. Period. Rather than making an empty claim by ourselves, head on over to our testimonials page and see what our customers are saying about us.

3. Deliver What You Promise. If You Don’t, Fix It.

How lame would it have been if the original iPhone didn’t work and was full of bugs? The reason the iPhone was such a game-changer wasn’t that it provided a brand-new product to the world. It was that it did everything really well. I still have a 1st Generation iPhone, and it’s still in perfect condition.

As Jobs promised, “it just works.”

At Brilliant, we deliver on our promises; which we couldn’t accomplish if we were worried about competing on price. No other company in the world is more committed to value than Brilliant. We want to be the best, and not just for slogans.

We want you think we’re the best. So we act like it.