Don’t give your price ahead.
“Once I’ve convinced them, I’ll give them the price.” “I’ll save the price for the last stage.” That’s common advice. If you talk ahead about price, you’ll look greedy. You’ll lose the deal. They’ll run for the hills. And that might be true… if it doesn’t have a context. BUT if you think of it this way: talking price early. Will clear the air and put up a filter from the start. Will let both you and your customer see if there’s a financial fit. Will make things straight to see if there’s an…
[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…
Bad food
Bad Food – Anthony Bourdain Switch food with product, marketing, business, brand… What kind of food do you wanna make? PS- inspired by Dave Trott’s post.
The question
What’s that that your customers appreciate about working with you? Is it that you always say yes? Is it that you always say no? We know it’s not the great work you do. Your work (and its quality) has not really a lot to do with WHY they keep working with you. They keep working with you because of something else. They keep saying yes to what you advice because of something else. They keep with you because _________________. Let me know.
Changing the equation
In a product-market fit approach: “This is how everybody else prices” (eg. cost+) “These are the prices”. You play by their rules. And here comes the challenge. Rethinking them from the core: “How can you change this equation?” “How could i charge X?” “What would my customers need that they gain 10X the price?” It brings you to think from “what they owe me” (aka. what it costs me) into “what they’re interested in” (the outcome). When you start with this, things shift. And that’s your first…
What your customers are paying for
They’re not paying for your costs (they actually don’t care if you’re profitable or not). They’re not paying for your time. They’re not paying for your effort. They’re not even paying for what you (might) already know. What they’re paying for… is for how they go from state A to state B. Actually, for them getting to state B. They pay for the help received. And you charge for the help you give. How involved you, your brand, or your staff, get into that process is what will help you determine…
Costs don’t matter
Yeah, they do matter, but not necessarily when pricing. If they did (costs), the price of any SaaS would need to be near to zero, since the cost is marginal because it’s scaled up. If they did, the price for a flight ticket would need to be lower the fuller the plane is. Flights get all of their costs covered at a certain quantity of tickets sold (and that’s less than 30% of the seats). Hotel rooms would have to be almost given for free the closer to the end of hotel-day or when they’re…
An invitation
If you’ve thought “how the hell do i productize my offerings?”, friend of the list and founder of Metahelm, Guillaume Wiatr, is running his monthly complimentary workshopProductized Services: A Shortcut to Authentic and Valuable Solutions on Thursday. His way of approaching consulting, selling, and showing up as you are, are top. Maybe that’s the tiny dip in the water to get you started. I know, if you take it, you’ll leave with something for your business.
How much does it cost?
A cost is not a price. Talking about price makes you think in different terms. When you see “Cost”, it usually makes you consider something a bit more, like if it’s more painful. On what you’re giving away. When you see “Price”, the focus shifts onto what’s the thing on the other side of this pain. It helps your customers see the potential. To assess the value of what they consider worth it. It changes the dynamics in a sales conversation and negotiations. It clears the air.
Clarity in the articulation
Ghostwriters, copywriters, marketers, content marketers, brand strategists… Other people can’t write “thought-leadership” for you. Neither will they turn you into a “thought-leader”. It’s not magic. And definitely not a linear, easy-to-reach process. Leadership comes from the outside. Thought-leadership comes from your market: rivals, business environment, customers. Thoughts come from you. To get there, others can help you. Yet the articulation (and the struggle to get there) needs to come…