[Last Chance] Don’t miss out
Don’t you HATE this kind of emails and messages trying to push you into a buying decision? Even worse —when it keeps repeating over and over? I know i do. Pushing for this fear of missing out (FOMO) and to get them to take action based on an impulse is a common (mal)practice. Why? Because this push is artificial and external —and an overkill. A better approach to help your customers buy is to dig up that urgency they actually feel and direct them to make the decision a no-brainer. You don’t…
Reaching the 10% of the market
Look, you don’t need to “reach the 10% of the market/segment”. We can all play the numbers game. Basic math ain’t that hard. To get to that “10%” is not rocket science. You know what’s hard? Taking a stand for something and sticking to it. Knowing that —sometimes— this “something” is not the way to go, let go and take a new approach (and a new something). Finding the ones who actually care about that something. And forget about your solutions —and your brand. If you can help them get what…
You’re only a leader when you have followers
Some say “The only thing that makes a leader is when they have followers.” Bullshit. Leading and leadership is not (about) having followers. It’s opening the way ahead so that others can lead in their own ways. Leadership is about taking the unopen paths when you’re ahead of others, to risk things so that others can move forward. If you lead the way, others will see and take courage on taking the lead. And that’s the game-changer.
Price or Terms?
Which one would you rather negotiate on: Price, or Payment terms?
Generosity: a mistake often done
Being generous doesn’t mean doing things for free, but with intent. That’s one thing many, MANY people get mixed up. “If i’m to be generous, i need to do things for free” In business it gets disguised as overservicing, overdelivering, overserving, or underpricing. In the long run it makes your margins to go thinner, and your business not sustainable. If you want to be generous, see and act to what’s in your customers’ best interest. Do it with intent. And do it from the heart. You can be…
If you want followers…
… you’re looking at it wrong. Because you’ll treat them as followers. And when they get to be treated like followers, they’ll act like followers. What if you treat them like leaders and help them get there? It’ll change the whole way of seeing each other. They’ll question and be critic. If you want followers… just buy yourself a bot farm. 🙂 If you want to lead, help others lead.
The fear of saying No
“If the prospect is not a fit, you just say No.” His face changed. I could see the fear into saying No to a prospect. It was like reading his mind: Him – “Saying No? I’ll be losing business! I can’t say No.” Me – “If you try to get them to yes, to buy from you —even when they can’t afford you— you’ll put energy, resources, effort and hopes into a lost cause. Wouldn’t it be more efficient to focus on the ones who can afford you?” And then it hit him. Hard. The fear was gone (at least for now)…
No-brainer
If sales are down because your competition is aggressive and price is the main driver, you don’t have a pricing problem, you have a framing problem. Framing who your customers are. Framing how they can get more from you. Framing why they should buy from you instead of the others. Framing what you’re offering. Framing what they’re buying. Because, if price would really be the decisive factor, going lower than your competition by 10 or 100 would make it a no-brainer and you’d be selling more….
The Opposite Test
What’s the best way to measure your differentiation strategy? Ask the opposite. If you say you “bring solutions to your customers”, ask “do the others say they bring problems to customers?”. If you say “I create value”, as “do the others say they destroy value”? If it sounds ridiculous and like it won’t be something anyone would do, it’s quite likely you’re not perceived as that different. The fix is simple: Look at what the others say, find the trend, find the gap, and claim it, in your own…
Compensating
When you’re complying with what your customers asks about price: “a better price”, “a final offer”, “your offer is 20% higher than the others”, “my cousin can do it for less”, you’re giving away your power. And profit. And here’s something else. You’ll try to make up for what you’re giving away, in other things with that client. To which, if they don’t do or argue on, you’ll look for ways to get out of it as quickly as possible. And trying to do that is not in your customer’s best interest,…