Sure, I’ll admit it! One of our “survival strategies” during the recession was to reduce rates. I wouldn’t say that we were the Walmart of management consulting firms always striving – let alone promising – to be the guaranteed low-cost provider. We did, however, negotiate steeply reduced rates with our clients. On a couple of occasions, I even agreed to offer all-inclusive rates without passing through our out-of-pocket travel expenses just to win some work.
While that may have been a justifiable – if not downright savvy – business strategy to generate some positive cash flow during the recession, somewhere along the way it felt like we simply became a commodity for our clients. Well, at least some of them!
Now I don’t know about you, but I’m not comfortable being known as a commodity. Being adaptive to changes in our marketplace is one thing. Honoring our clients’ real budget constraints, I’m good with that too. Being experienced as no different or better than our competitors though, not so much. I prefer to have our clients experience us – and me – as priceless!
Yes, I have rich taste at times. And no, not everybody can afford to buy priceless gemstones – at least not very often – so I’m not suggesting you establish a pricing strategy that prices you right out of your market. Especially not if you market and sell yourself and your services to an internal client base where cost and investment is defined in very different ways. It’s more about establishing value for your products and services and being experienced as that rare gift or prized possession that most people don’t have very many of and definitely don’t indulge in very often.
So what are you doing with your clients and customers to communicate your value as a gemstone? Give us a call at +1.310.589.4600 (or 866.PLS.DLTA within the US) or email us at [email protected] if you’d like some FREE advice from Plus Delta’s CEO & Chief Architect on how to more clearly articulate your distinct market value so that your clients and customers pay you more for your products and services than ever before and actually thank you in the process. We look forward to meeting your every need!
