#1 Have fun
Having fun. I’d argue the first principle in diving (recreational diving, not necessarily tech-diving). Same applies to your business. If you’re running your business and you’re miserable, it’s kinda non-sense, right? You could be doing something else, or working for somebody. If you’re running a business, it’s about something you see in the market that doesn’t work. And while you find better ways to help, you can still have fun. So remember that. 🙂
Diving principles
You can see business as diving. Here are the principles: Have fun. Never hold your breath. Equalize early and often. Always make a safety stop. Never dive alone. Inspect and maintain your equipment. Be buoyant at the surface, neutral underwater. Have fun. They have more to do with business than what you’d see on the surface.
AI will replace you
“AI will replace you.Well, I’d love to see AI wrestle into a wetsuit, smash out 3 deep dives, blow a perfect bubble ring at the safety stop & still make it to happy hour.” Reel IG: @mantadivegilit Could you have an AI (or a robot) to do all of those things efficiently? (except the HH, maybe?) Sure. Would that be fun for you? Not quite sure. It’s the same with your business. AI won’t replace you because it won’t do what you do for the fun of it. At the end, if you’re not having fun, you can…
On the house
You’re stuck with something in your business. You know it. It takes lots of energy from you and don’t really know how to overcome it. Tell me. Whatever it is —pricing, marketing, strategy, branding, segmentation, distribution… business. I’ll point you in the right direction this week. All these years working with and advising small businesses on how to grow have come with tons of resources —books, articles, videos, podcasts, tools— that are better when shared. I’ll direct you on what you…
Discount: An intuitive way of anchoring
In many industries, the way to go is: I show them a “high” price (that I know will never go for), and as soon as they read the proposal, I’m giving them 30% off. It’s a no-brainer! This way, they’ll go to their boss and say “Boss, I got us a GOOD deal”. You want them to say that. [And they still won’t buy (but this one is for another email).] What was described here is an intuitive way of anchoring. To make the offer higher, and with the discount (by default), the “deal” will appear nicer for…
You anchor or you’re anchored
In any negotiation, somebody is anchoring (and at least trying to anchor), whether as a buyer or as a seller. Consciously or unconsciously. Anchoring.- The cognitive bias where you stick to the first piece of information received. Said piece of info will serve as an “anchor” to the next one. Money talking, how you get a “better” or “worse” deal. As a buyer, you’re (usually) trying to go on the most economically efficient way. You want to get a better deal and spend the most reasonable to what…
Dis-positioned
Dis-positioned. The lost battle driven by price. It’s an interesting thing that keeps showing up in many shapes, shades and forms: how businesses lose themselves into the weeds, and go into the gentle battle for control already losing. They show up as order-takers. They show up saying “Yes” to every request. They show up in fear (of losing the sale). They show up giving all the power (and price decisions) to the customer. They show up angry (that they’re taken advantage of). There’s a bright…
No marketing needed
An actual conversation: – When your product is so good, you don’t need marketing. – Ok. And what is marketing? – Well… social media, ads, PR… – Sure that’s A PART OF marketing. What about product development, innovation, pricing, distribution? – Ah, no. [product dev] That’s for product. [innovation] For R&D. [pricing] For Finance (or Sales). [distribution] For Sales. As if your business works in siloes (it doesn’t). Quoting Peter Drucker, “[…] the business enterprise has two — and only…
Help me out?
Your input in this is going to be quite interesting and helpful. All you need is to have an open mind and let go of certainty. You have 2 offerings in a market: A and B. They’re quite similar. The price for A is 3,3 X The price for B is 0,9 X Without context, and just taking the price as the only factor to consider… What are your assumptions on A and/or B? What do you believe A (or B) represents? What would you say makes one have this gap in the price?
Maybe I’m wrong
Maybe you’re wrong. And we got all this mixed up. The prices in the market are not as high as you think —or as I think. Maybe you’re product/service/offering is not THE best in the market —and that’s ok. And even with all of that, if you focus on how your customer can best be helped, you’ll be steps ahead. And you’ll come up with something uncommon. To get uncommon prices. And your customers and you will both be happy.
