Just a fling
“It’s just a fling” A fling is something sporadic, occasional and with no prospect of something in the future. A fling, though, wouldn’t be called a transaction. Just a thing of the moment. Easily exchanged. Easily forgettable. Your business? Is it a fling for your customers? Or are they actually invested in making it a thing? Because depending on what it is that they see, you could start talking on loyalty.
You can’t decide for your customer
“[You] have been taught that somehow the value of what you produce has to do with the time it took you to do something –it never has, and it never will.” Time’s Up | Paul Dunn & Ron Baker. The time, or the effort, or your costs. They are not why your customers should (and would) pay for what you offer. It’s about what they get. And what they get, at the end of it all, is the perception of what they get. You can’t decide for them what’s valuable. You can’t “educate” them on what’s valuable….
“The price is too high”
Because most times “Money is not a problem” gets ignored. A client’s sales team got told by their customer that money is not a problem, and that the solution required can be whatever it needs to be (aka no budget constraints). The reply? “You’ll have this, and this, and this. But I think the price is too high… here’s a 25% discount.” My eyes couldn’t believe what they were hearing (yup, even my brain made short circuit 🙃). There was this disconnect between a blank cheque for their…
What would you say to this?
“Money is not a problem.” What would your reaction be and what would you for your customer? How would you structure your work to be? What would your work represent? What would it focus on?
Whose advice to follow when pricing?
Your cost specialist can’t do your pricing. They’re focused on costs. Price is focused on value (on how to capture the most of it). Costs look into the business. Pricing looks into the customer. Into what’s important and acceptable for them. From their perspective, with their money, with their needs. Not with what you think it’d be “fair” to you. Which focus are you taking? 🙂
Customer is king
If customer is king, you can’t say no. Your head will roll. If customer is king, you can’t contradict them —even when their ideas are BAD. If customer is king, you’re not allowed to walk away until dismissed. If customer is king, you do what you’re told. If customer is king, you’re not at their level. If customer is king, they’re the prize to be won. If … And that’s not reality. There are no kings.
Getting new business isn’t “Wins”
Why not Wins? Because it’s pointless. Even if you keep track of them all, of all of your “wins”, it won’t serve you more than as just an ego exercise. Or to build confidence, if you want. Nothing else. The more you score, the better the win is. Right? Then, what if you have 1M in rev? And 999999 in costs… What if you have 10M in profit? And bad sleep bc of the stress. It’s not like sports (or a war), where you win by defeating the other(s) —and by scoring the most. Keep track, yes. Keep…
Your job
“Don’t pitch your value in the sale. That’s marketing’s job. Your job is to uncover the value the client is seeking. Arm yourself with questions, not claims.” Blair Enns That’s it for today. Make questions. The right ones. 🙂
Being challenged
Challenging your customers’ belief system… that’s a hard pill to swallow. If customer is king, why would you challenge them, right? Well, what if you challenge them to think different? To think big. To see things from an outside perspective. Because then, maybe they’ll start seeing what new opportunities they could take. What new ways they could better serve their market. What things could be done different in their market. And you know what else? The bar is SO low, that doing that minimum…
Double Thank You
That’s when your client gives you their money and say “Thank you. The work we’ve done together has really moved the needle.” And that’s when you say “Thank you. For letting me guide and lead to make this change.” It’s double because both gained something. And it’s about what’s important for them (aka the value). Jonathan Stark has his own take on this, and Blair Enns, too here. What was the last double thank you you can recall? 🙂
