Getting copied
What if they copy what we have? Yeah. What if? And if so, what about it? They can copy numbers, codes, functionalities, prices, talking points, scripts. And so what? All of it can be copied. Easily. You know what they can’t? Or at least is way way WAY harder? Your logic and your thinking. Your approach to the problem. Stop with the fear of “what if”. Open it up. Make it punk public Autocorrect worked. 🙂
You won’t convince them
Look, to someone who you seem to be expensive, you’ll still be expensive. No matter what you say or how you try to justify your prices. No matter what you do to try to convince them, you will NOT. And that’s ok. Because convincing is the act of changing their minds on what they belief. To convince.- v. to cause someone to believe something or to do something. That is taking the agency away from them. It’s a zero-sum game. A battle. It’s you proving them wrong. That you are at a higher level,…
Hamsters
Hamsters hoard. They need it for survival. That’s because they’re so fragile and defenseless to predators. But that’s nature. Now, you can’t have hoarders in your business. That is, unless you’re fragile and defenseless to your competitors and the market. And if you are, are you really able to charge a premium or stand out in your market? If you have information, share it. If you have something that none of your competitors would dare to share, do it. All framed from your perspective. To…
Stop selling
Stop pitching and trying to convince people. Show up with your prospects to see if there’s a fit, with your willingness to help them see something they don’t see yet. To be there for them and show them the way —with you, or with someone else who fits better. Ask questions and push. Help them see you’re on the same side, not against them. Say what you think. Don’t hold back, but no need to be an ass either. Be kind, but straightforward. Choose your words. You’re not there to sell. You’re there…
Sense of urgency
In hospitality (and business) people talk of having a “sense of urgency” to do things at the right time, in the right way, and always taking care of details. But in reality it’s not urgency, it’s efficiency and efficacy, I’d say. The thing here is that they get to confuse this sense of urgency with busy-ness. To be always doing something. Doing nothing is not possible, because that means wasted time —or just laziness. So you have everyone jumping from one thing to the other, keeping busy……
A service business?
Some argue that you’re in the service business. And that might be right. It makes sense. But I’d go a bit further. Quoting Ron Baker, “you’re in the transformation business”. You help your customers transform by servicing them (diff from serving them). 🙂 The approach you’ll take on decisions, advice, and goals reflects that.
Are you prepped to be wrong?
Here’s an excerpt of Sir Ken Robinson’s TED Talk on creativity The main point on it is about being prepared to get things wrong. Yet, something that keeps coming back to mind is how you can approach things in your business. It can go from trying to avoid mistakes and playing it safe —or be prepared to get it wrong, so you can have a go at new approaches you come up with. On which side of the spectrum would you rather be? You can see the full presentation here.
Saying it out loud
Your price. At it’s top. No discounts. No words after it. Have you tried doing that? Being in a sales conversation, get to the price part and just say it —as natural as saying “It rains outside”. Silence. And a smile. Or do you jump to fill it in, justify why it’s like this and what it involves? (Been there, done that.) A question for you: What’s the thing that you do (your most expensive one) and how much is it? I’m curious to know. 🙂
Price fear
Working on proposals, quotations and offers gets into some sort of comfort zone. A zone where you don’t need to push for hearing a No, or where even ghosting is preferable to being rejected. Or trying to avoid saying a high price, so that you don’t miss the opportunity. Or flinching at the very last minute —and lowball the offer. Or decide to start with a low price, because that way you can “upsell the next time”. Behind all that, there’s fear. And fear is a natural, instinctive survival…
Getting Paid for Years
Internet connection problems. So here’s a great article by Tim Williams on the same subject of expertise. 🙂 Getting Paid for Years – Ignition Group.