The problem with sustainability
Sustainability, ESG, climate change, circular economies… they all have a problem: they’re jargon. They go full-on academic, or fuzzy, or whatever, actually. It goes around in very small, strict pods that make them feel like a bubble. They go hard on technicality, definitions (I mean, do you even get what “taxonomy” is? I don’t), specifications, and so on. It makes them unreachable. Impossible to explain. And when you can’t clearly explain that thing you do, people won’t care. And worse:…
Types of sausage
The sausage is a metaphor for what your customers want: the outcome, the transformation. Here are a few types of sausage: Increasing revenue Decreasing delays Improving message clarity Enabling their sales to better fits Streamlining their ops Accessing new markets Expanding the brand presence Being the top-of-mind choice in new business Take a bigger share of the market Keeping better track of their processes Improving their new product launches Increased revenues or profitability Faster…
Solution-mode Off
When you approach your sales conversations without trying to find a solution in the very moment, you find yourself listening to understand. To understand HOW you could help your prospect get what they want. And to KNOW what they REALLY want, you need to listen. And deactivate your solution mode. It requires you to not be the expert (in an expertise-based business, right? 🤯). It requires you to lead the conversation to help your client (and yourself) gain clarity. Blair Enns calls it the…
It’s not about growth
Pricing is not about growth. It’s about profit. About getting the maximal monetary amount your customer is WILLING to pay. BUT, also, it’s about profit AFTER bringing your customer to a better place. If you don’t get this one principle clear, any pricing you’ll try won’t last.
Involution
When moving prices up little by little, it’s all about the seller (you). About their costs, their margins, their “compensation” on inflation, etc. It has nothing to do with the customer. It’s involution. Because it focuses more and more to the inside. The short term. The survival of today.
Pop Quiz
Can you charge different prices for the (very exact) same thing? For services. For productized services. For products. Let me know. 🙂
Low prices are the right message
Price is the representation of your promise. If you have a high price, the implied promise is that it’s of high value. It’s the right message. If you have a low price, you’re also sending the right message: of low value. The understanding of it is like a force of nature: it just happens. And fast. The question is: do you intend to send the message of low value or of high value? Either is ok. There’s a market for everyone. Are you making the right message?
Orders, orders, orders.
More often than not, there is a big focus on revenue as the thing to measure (success, growth, improvement). All of this nonsense of “Orders. Orders. Orders.” The thing is, to someone new into a business or sales, this misbelief is misleading. Instead of seeing revenue as a proof of concept and an enabler of cash flow, they see it as the end. And then fail. On top of that “Orders, orders, orders.” hides something unintendedly: you get to be an order-taker. Taking orders. Following orders….
Choosing revenue
Choosing revenue means choosing vanity. It means that what’s important is what goes into the business. The today, rather than the long game. It dilutes the way you make decisions, because it’s revenue over all. It dilutes your power to say no. It pushes you to comply with what your customer demands. And when revenue is not hitting the mark, you stench of desperation. So you get pushed down. To what they say. In fear. Revenue is not all.
You’re not a brand
The price you set is not a reflection of you. The price you set is not a reflection of your worth. It’s not a reflection of your effort. It’s not a reflection of your passion. It’s not a reflection of yourself. You’re not your price. You’re not a brand.
