Misleading your customers is good for you
When you work in music, movies, or art. When you delight your audience with the unexpected. When you prepare them to expect the unexpected. Not in business, though. You don’t want your customers to be misled. You want to surprise them, yeah; yet with an idea they’re part of. There, you lead them. And that’s how you delight them. PS.- If you want some fun misleading and are into the MCU (Marvel), do watch Deadpool. Great misleading (and tons of swearing, just FYI).
The largest smallest
What is the largest tiny market where you can be seen as THE perfect option (aka meaningfully relevant)? Market: group of people trying to get something done. Meaningfully relevant: only you (or a very few) can help this market to serve get the thing done. The thing done: the desired future state they’re trying to achieve. When you define it, you’re the big fish in the small pond.
Prices and Inflation
A few responses re: “What do you do with your prices when inflation gets a 15% jump?” were in the lines of “I’ll raise my prices”. Makes sense. In a sense. BUT! What if you didn’t have to raise your prices, despite inflation? How would your customers feel about it? What do you think the effect on this would have on trust? What would you need to keep your prices without change in such scenario?
Inflation
If your country’s economy hits 15% inflation (in comparison to the last year). What do you do with your prices? Raise them? Maintain them? Lower them? Why? 🙂
Will & Joe
What if they both had fixed prices… and you could have the answer now (Joe) or in a few weeks (Will)? [Notice that “few weeks” is more than a month.] It’s a game-changer for your business —think of it as THE thing that will put you in the stratosphere of your field. Which one would be YOUR choice?
Money is not a problem.
“Money is not a problem.” In a negotiation in behalf of a client, I asked my client:”Please give me the prices (at full) for these 2 programs your customer wants to buy. Money is not a problem. They have as a minimum 24K euros.” The answer? “Here. This is the price —but you can offer it for less.” The “less” price? 16K The fear of “losing” the opportunity made them leave money on the table. Despite having the extra approved budget. Of course, now comes the ethical question: “Isn’t this…
Charge what you’re worth
How many times you’ve been told that, and yet, you’re still underpriced? Or worse, “underpromising and overdelivering”… This thing of “you deserve to get paid what you’re worth” is nonsense. Your worth and what you get paid are not correlated. In a business setting (this means: if you’re working doing work for someone other than yourself) what you get paid has little to nothing to do with what you’re worth. Because if that were the case, you’d be able to charge whatever (made up) number you…
Same situation, 2 advisors
In yesterday’s daily the message kind of didn’t get through the intended way. I’m sorry. There were a few readers’ responses that made me realize that. Thank you. 🙂 Hopefully, this time it will be clearer. Imagine this. You need to make an important decision on your business. A game-changer. One that has the potential to change the way you’re perceived in the market you serve. You approach 2 advisors (Will and Joe). Your budget is 10K. In the future of this (imaginary) scenario, both of them…
Are you the expert?
Do your customers just ask you for what they need and you tell them “Yes, here are some options for you to choose from”? Or do you guide them through the process so that they can make an informed decision? Or do you even tell them “No, sorry. I don’t do that / provide that / work like that”?
Customers are idiots
“Not my customers. They’re fucking brilliant.You’re fucking brilliant.And I respect you.” Noel Gallagher Here’s the thing Customers are not always right. They’ll always be right on what they want (as the outcome). They’ll most likely be wrong in what they need, or on what they want as the solution. You’re the expert. You show them the door to a better place. You lead them through moving forward to not stay the same. Focus on that “1%”. 🙂