Thought leadership
So, you’re a thought-leader. Says who? You’re a trusted advisor. Says who? If it’s not your customers who say that, there’s a gap to fill. Leadership and trust don’t come from within, they come from the outside. If they’re not the ones saying it, you need more work to do. 🙂
[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…
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…
Discounts are bad for your customers.
The constant ones. Discounting. It trains them that only price (without context) is the decisive factor. Makes you think of how little you could go for and still make a profit (if any). Risks them to shit customer service. Since your margins are low, going the extra mile —or even care for after sales— for what they need as an extra will only seem like a high expense on your side. It makes you go for more effort (to get more sales), with the same result. Turns into a vicious loop of trying to…
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…
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…
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.
Jumping through hoops
Why not just put your prices down from the start? If your customers are price-sensitive, always haggling, always shopping and driven by the lowest price, showing up with THE lowest price would make them buy directly from you, right? Or is it more like even then, they would ask for more hoops to jump through? What’s your experience? 🙂
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…
A different view of the future
If strategy is about the future, and uncertainty and zero-warranties… why would anyone want to try something new and for the first time? … or wouldn’t they? Going to “guaranteed results/strategies/approaches” will get you to use what has been already there (at most), with a context that doesn’t apply to you, your customers or your business. (That’s why the bro-marketing-get-rich-quick-schemes don’t work). Think of past-driven vs future-driven this way: If you benchmark with what’s already…