Not with those shoes!

As we’ve gathered a galaxy of brilliant brains to this blog, there’s something I wish to ask.

Something that’s been bugging me for decades:

Does exclusive actually mean anything in business?

I’m not sure it does.

A Lot of it about

Google yields 0.9 billion results for exclusive. That’s thrice more than for bread.

It’s obvious exclusive is widely used in commerce. There are firms who deal in exclusive:

• Backpacking.
• Photography.
• Hardware.
• Swimming pools.
• Catering.
• Wrought iron.

I can’t fathom who these firms are excluding, unless it’s prospects who are old, ugly, unco, poor, fat or frail. (That’s me gone!)

In these fragile times, it’s hard to imagine vendors knocking back anyone with a great wad of cash in their hand.

Am I being too literal again?

Raw Deal

The same reasoning applies to exclusive deals. I’ve never seen a deal that excluded anyone who had the loot to pay for it.

One furniture chain advertises their wares as ‘exclusive, not expensive’.

I’ve since found the same claim for products as diverse as paint, flowers, kitchens and real estate.

What the hell does it all mean?

Limited Patience

A further ploy is the use of ‘limited edition’ on everything from cars to laptops to numbered, collectable (adorable!) hand-painted newborn porcelain dolls with (gorgeous!) lifelike eyelashes.

I understand that creating an illusion of scarcity is a tactic to drive up price.

But does anyone really believe there aren’t 50 spare container loads out the back for every limited-edition product on offer?

Setting Limits

In my business, I exclude clients who lie, play mind games, set impossible deadlines, devalue my work or fail to pay.

But I exclude them after they actually do these things, not before they’ve even picked up the phone.

These days, the original exclusive brands like Louis Vuitton (1854) and Swarovski (1895) are anything but. (Especially in Japan, where they’re crazy for the stuff.)

These and other formerly exclusive names have become so endemic, they’re now called luxury brands. That doesn’t stop the hordes forking out top dollar for them.

Come in, Spinner!

So, exclusive; is it a:

• Hollow echo of the past?
• Throwaway term tacked on to evoke caché?
• Fair dinkum statement of business practice?

Do you exclude customers from your company?

If so, is the exclusion explicit or situational?

Can you name one brand or product for which exclusivity is a legitimate commercial device?

Space is limited (as is time).

So don’t miss out …

Comment now to avoid disappointment!

Paul Hassing, Founder & Senior Writer, The Feisty Empire

                         Information → Power → Money → Time → Freedom → Joy

                                                   (Click pic to enlarge.)

Our Judy Oldmeadow is going great guns with her dream to breed the world’s finest Morgan horses.

Last time I visited her farm, I asked what her financial goal was.

It took a while to extract, but we got there.

She wants $30K for every horse she sells.

That’s $22K more than she’s getting now.

Is she dreaming?

No!

Show, Don’t Tell

The good news is, Judy’s horses are actually worth $30K.

The problem is, many of their youbeaut attributes are long term, intangible or not part of the normal purchasing decision process.

Things like health, longevity, temperament, social adjustment and blood magnesium level.

We must therefore articulate and prove these points of difference to prospective buyers.

Word of Mouth

Judy’s past customers, having experienced her Morgans’ superiority, have no problem evangelising to others.

One by one, we’re capturing their powerful (and often moving) testimonials in Judy’s blog.

But this is a slow, incremental process.

To fast-track Judy’s message to uninitiated prospects, I’ve proposed a breakdown of precisely what makes her critters so damn good.

Picture Perfect

The pic you see is my first rough sketch of a ‘proof page’.

It lists everything I can think of that goes into (or comes out of) a Samaria Creek Morgan horse.

Judy’s task is to perfect this list and put a dollar figure beside every element.

I know this is hard for her.

She’d rather play in the sun with the herd than crunch numbers any day.

Also, she feels odd thinking of her beloved babies in such rigorous, clinical terms.

That’s why she has a gimlet-eyed townie copywriter to smack her into shape.

It’s one thing to want $30K.

Quite another to convince people to give it to you.

Once finished and posted on her website, I believe this proof page will do much of Judy’s talking – freeing her to focus on her main game.

Your Story

Many of our readers own or aspire to the top end of their field.

• Big sales are fun.
• Rich clients are smart. (Sometimes.)
• Short hours are heaven.
• Supplying world’s best quality is intensely satisfying.

If you share Judy’s desire to be lonely at the top, how about producing a proof page for your good or service?

I’d love to know why your stuff is worth so much.

I might even buy it.

So saddle up!

You could be in for the ride of your life.

Paul Hassing, Founder & Senior Writer, The Feisty Empire

                                                Must I weigh my words?

In The Agony of Price, we saw that charging for what we sell can be a tricky affair.

I’d now like to explore the conflict between discrete and continuous goods (or services).

Half a Kitten

Discrete goods come in whole units – like cars, kittens, football tickets and DVDs.

Continuous goods come in measured doses – like petrol (litres), carpet (square metres) and copywriting (hours).

You can buy half a litre, but not half a kitten. (At least not in my suburb.)

Fewer Carpet

When describing discrete goods, we use ‘fewer’. When describing continuous goods, we use ‘less’. Thus, we say ‘less carpet’ and ‘fewer tickets’.

Unfortunately for me, the division between discrete and continuous goods fails when it comes to resumes.

I see resume optimisation as a continuous service, because I charge by the hour.

Depending on source material quality, a resume can take me 1.0  to 4.5 hours (i.e. $120 to $540 + GST.)

By contrast, my clients see their resume as a discrete good. They have only one.

I consider $540 a fair price for half a day of my expert attention and 30 years experience.

Yet some resume providers charge as little as $50.

How could I possibly be eleven times better than these ‘competitors’?

93.33% Proof

Of the last 15 resumes I did, 14 of their owners went on to secure their dream job. (The 15^th would’ve too, had he listened to my interview advice.)

I can turn a box of torn notes into a two-page marvel that will get you a top job at Microsoft.

I always warn clients that I’m much more expensive (and effective) than local-rag traders.

Some see my fee as a worthy investment in a much brighter future.

Others go to jelly at the thought of my ticking clock.

I appreciate where they’re coming from; taxi meters on freeways have a similar effect on me.

That’s why I offer a free option.

What’s Mine is Yours

During my ten-year human resources career, I handled thousands of resumes for hundreds of jobs.

Each time a resume won its owner a job, I compared it to my resume. If it was better, I improved mine.

The result was a distillation of every successful resume I ever saw.

So, if a client is quavering about price, I send them my resume.

I say that all they need do is fold their source materials into this template.

By doing so, they don’t spend a cent.

The trouble is, they can’t.

Not So Easy

Their source materials are too many, too few or too poor.

They don’t know what to put in or take out.

Some have a go, but the result is a hodgepodge.

That’s when I explain that it takes expert eyes and hands to sort gems from spoil and weave them tight.

They see this, but the $50 option still haunts them.

And so they try for a middle path, hiring me for half the necessary time to ‘break the back’ of their resume.

This defeats the purpose:

1. Dream jobs demand perfect resumes.
2. Perfect resumes demand time.

Up Front

I could solve this problem by turning my continuous service into a discrete good.

I could simply say all optimised resumes cost $600, no matter what.

The timid would vanish and the true believers would cough up.

But I don’t do this, because I only charge for time actually worked.

This policy, though well-intentioned, clashes with my clients’ desires.

So, should I get with their program?

Good on You

Are your goods (or services) continuous or discrete?

Do any fall between the cracks?

What charging dramas have you had and how did you resolve them?

In for a penny, in for a pound!

Paul Hassing, Founder & Senior Writer, The Feisty Empire

Today the Small Business Owner blog is joined by Nina Sunday. Nina is Managing Director of Brainpower Training, a people development company with a range of programs in communication, emotional intelligence, knowledge capture, productivity and leadership. Today Nina shares her insights into analysing the reasons why clients stop using a business.  Welcome Nina!  Naomi

There are useful lessons to be learned by analysing the reasons clients stop using any business.

A well-known research study * identified five typical reasons customers leave, and here they are:
1.  Move away
2.  Develop other friendships
3.  Price
4.  Dissatisfaction with the product or service
5.  An attitude of indifference toward the customer by the owner, manager, or some employee

Why not conduct a guessing exercise with your co-workers?

Can they guess which of these 5 reasons was cited more often?

Ask each person to assign a percentage out of 100  next to each reason listed. (And when they tally, their total for all 5 reasons should add up to 100%.)

Price

Did they think price was the most important?

Many people assume most people shop on price, but research shows only 9% of customers are price shoppers.

Price shoppers are not loyal. They switch from supplier to supplier and won’t necessarily stay just because you provide good service.

Dissatisfaction

What about dissatisfaction? Did they consider that might be the main reason to stop using a firm? Not according to the research. Only 14% leave because they are dissatisfied with the product or service.

5% develop new relationships, 3% move away, 1% die.  That leaves 68%.

Indifference

The main reason clients stop using a business is indifference by the owner, manager or staff members.

What behaviour is perceived as indifferent?

Lack of eye contact, lack of friendliness, doing one’s job in a neutral, humdrum way is perceived as being indifferent.

Last time I flew with Qantas airline, during the usual announcement, ‘Qantas flight 508 to Brisbane is now boarding through Gate 8′, they added, ‘On behalf of Qantas, we hope you enjoy a pleasant flight.’

That’s an extra statement that’s positive and friendly. It’s something a little extra that comes across as ‘they care’.

If your eyes stay glued to the computer screen, fingers keep tapping the keyboard while responding to someone speaking to you face to face, it sends a message they are an interruption.

Lack of urgency when a client is anxious about a missing or late item is also interpreted as indifference.

The ‘moment of truth’ principle in customer service highlights that with every interaction your client is deciding whether to do business with you or to continue to  do business with you.

Observe for yourself. Are all customer touchpoints in your organisation positive and friendly?

Action Summary:

1. Notice next time you go through the checkout at the supermarket. Did the operator make eye contact and smile? Are they personable?

2. When you answer the phone do you sound welcoming and ready to assist?

3. If you can’t say yes to a customer request, can you be creative and come up with a suggestion along the lines of ‘but what I can do is…?’

4. Find reasons to stay in touch with regular clients; demonstrate you value this relationship. Create an SIT (Stay In Touch) list.

* Work cited:  This research study was highlighted in Michael LeBoeuf’s 1989 book, ‘How to Win Customers and Keep Them For Life.’ Revised edition: Berkley Trade (2000).

Nina Sunday, Blogger and Managing Director, Brainpower Training

Poor pricing can cripple your business. Too low, profits go. Too high, sales die. As with terms, this fickle field has many pitfalls. To avoid them, I seek your take on the scenarios below.

Think of it as a game of Scruples, without the vodka and fondue.

Perception

A cheap checkout perfume didn’t sell until the supermarket raised its price by 2000%, moved it to the beauty section and put it behind glass.

The perfume was unchanged, but its new handling increased its value in customers’ eyes.

Should we treat our products likewise?

Guilt

As a kid, I pulled aluminium cans from rubbish bins and sold them to Alcoa (well below spot market rates, I suspect). As an adult, Catholic guilt and middle-class angst made it painful to set my copywriting rate at $120/hour.

My business coach said my clients weren’t buying just an hour of my time. They were buying my talent, reputation, two degrees and 24 years’ experience.

Was he right?

Change

A local pub has put digital price display tags on all its bottle shop products. These are linked to a computer.

On Friday nights, just before work drinks end and revellers hit the bottle shop for take-aways, the computer raises all prices by 15%. Prices revert for sober, Saturday morning shoppers.

Is this damnable (or damned good) pricing practice?

Value

A former financial advisor client was extremely fond of contra deals. Because, he asserted, his professional advice was three times more valuable than mine, he wanted three hours of my life in return for each hour of his.

In a man-to-man context, this stuck in my craw.

Should I put him back on my Christmas card list?

Substance

My ebook distils everything I’ve learned (the hard way) about job ad writing. Yet, as a PDF, it’s merely a bag of bytes with no physical substance.

I just doubled its price to $20 (to pay for Google AdWords). Is this the world’s best bargain, or is it a lame joke in light of the billions of free ebooks around?

Your comments on tonight’s fantastic questions will help us discover if the PRICE is RIGHT!!!