Almost two-thirds of Billboard Insider’s readers omit prices in ride sheets.  Here are the results of Monday’s poll.

But most of our comments say this is a mistake.

Out of home sales expert Kevin Gephart say disclose your prices!

I vote a resounding YES…put your price out there!!! The more transparent we can make buying out of home the more we simplify and demystify the entire process, and the more we increase sales.  Any company that tries to sell me something and won’t give me the price, has something to hide.  If you’re concerned that a prospect might think your price is too high, include the cost per thousand ad impressions and/or the cost per prospect (derived from the reach %) to show your incredible value!  You can apply a lot of strategy to the pricing you show.  I hope OOH companies aren’t in fear of their competitors knowing their prices because I’ve found your competitors will know any of your prices that they want to.

An out of home company owner says disclosing avoids time wasting

For sure price must be discussed early on . Otherwise you could wasting time . You never see Real Estate Brokers saying let’s look at a house and then I will tell you the price. Price helps determine budget afterall we are always trying to book more than one sign to one client . I have always done it and always will ….

A sign company executive says we need to abandon secretive price schemes.

I can’t help but wonder how the folks that won’t post prices hope to do business in the future. Imagine shopping at Amazon and having to call to see what an item actually sells for….It’s long past time to abandon secretive price schemes. It’s not like there’s an unlimited number of competing displays a local advertiser can get. Either your display works for their needs, or it doesn’t. There is nothing like outdoor. Set the rate that works for your business model, not for various other ad forms. If they’re asking about that sign they want it. And info transparency is key to sales….Within 5 years advertisers should be able to search, contract, and manage an ad deal online without a rep involved. In fact, companies like Blip exist because operators haven’t in-housed this process yet. You’ll need to be able to execute a deal in real-time online. 100% – from availability thru contract, posting, satisfaction follow-up, billing, and recurring online payments. This will increase your contract speed and maybe reduce your staffing. And allow for bidding in competitive markets over time. (yes – another skill set that is replaced with fully automated processes. This is going to happen, just like digital printers replaced hand painting. )…Oh, at the same time, lose the phone numbers and just push your brand’s domain name on the “available ad space” signs. No one has time to jot a phone number down at 65mph. And brand-building is our business….Just my$.02 adjusted for inflation.

An out of home executive says it depends...

Depends upon the circumstances. If it is a new prospect requesting information for the first time, I will include rate card pricing per four week period, and follow up with an email message pointing out that negotiated rates may be available depending upon contract length and number of locations purchased. If it is an agency, I will normally not include pricing in the event they want to pass the information on to one of their clients.

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