Decisions
Taking more time to think over things and THEN make a decision is just stalling. Sometimes you have all the facts right on your face —yet you close your eyes and want to believe they’re not there. So you stall. Your friendly reminder that “No decision is a decision”. It might be painful. But it’s simple. 🙂
Market-based prices
“Hell, no!” That’s the visceral, automatic reaction I get when hearing “You need to price based on your competitors’ prices”. While it sounds logical, the market can be (usually is) underpriced. There are many reasons to it, yet the most common one is because it takes a model of “What it costs me” + “My ‘desired’ margin”. A cost-plus model. Take this into account: while taking the market as a sanity check, and getting yourself a sense of confidence in what you offer, it also assumes that the…
How do you give your prices?
Do you have them all with all the details? Or do you have them as one single-price? Whatever form you do, what’s the thing you notice when negotiating/talking to your customers re: your pricing? Do you have any push back to justify anything —if at all? Hit reply and lemme know. 🙂
Simplicity
It’s not about what YOU think/see/feel is simple. It’s about what your customers think/see/feel is simple for them (or not). They don’t know the ins and outs. They don’t know better. They do know better, though, their day-to-day. They’re experts at that. A “simple” system for them might not be something that’s simple for you. Take “my old tax booking system is simple”… until they know how simple other things can be. Because simplicity —or complexity— has not everything to do with the use,…
It’s all about the keepers
There are 2 types of people in each customer (or prospect) that you reach: Budget keepers. Value keepers. You wanna talk to the value keepers. They’re the ones who see the future and are comfortable with uncertainty. They’re the ones who can fight for a high return in value.
Culture
A set of behaviors shared and understood by a group of people. Behaviors that are tolerated or reinforced. Whatever behavior you accept and tolerate (from your own team, customers, suppliers, competitors…) is the one that will define how you act —consciously, or unconsciously. Choose wisely.
You’ll be forced
“And remember: if you can’t differentiate yourself from your competitors, you’ll be forced to compete on price.”Jonathan Stark Just that. You can read Jonathan’s full post here.
Going deep on discounts
If you’re going to discount, here’s a more detailed view of yesterday’s rules: Specific.Needs to explain WHY they’re getting the discount. In exchange for something in return.Needs to say what’s being given in return for the discount. Explicit.Needs to be stated in the proposal what, how and why the discount is there. Time-bounded. It has to be in a defined timeframe.Needs to be a take it now, or leave it. Written at the end of the quote/proposal for what it is “Discounted price”.Price →…
5 rules on discounting
Giving discounts: taking a price off of something —or adding something up to your offering. But… what’s the reason (or reasons) to give a discount? Is it to give it when they ask for it? Is it to close the deal? Is it because you have no power in the negotiation? Is it because they have all the power in the negotiation? Is it because you can’t say No? Is it because they don’t have money? There can be a million reasons (or even more). And that’s fine. One thing you can ALWAYS say, and need…
No is good
Knowing what to say no to is the thing that puts you (and your business) in the expert position. It gives you clarity to choose the right fits for you. It disengages you from incurring into sunk costs (that all-nighter proposal/quote, that long pitch deck, that overexcitement into this next deal). It lets you set and respect your boundaries. It gives you the freedom to walk away. And most of it all: it lets you be the expert.