Or is it time to rethink the Stingy Strategy?
If you did all your cost-cutting measures before, what on Earth are you going to do now?
You can’t go back and fix that, I know, so there’s got to be another lesson here.
Provide value. Be the best you can be. Be the expert, the specialist, the one in a million. Be top of the mind.
Engineer delight, because chiseling away at your costs day after day, looking for another way to make the same buck with less product or less work, will always backfire.
Like it is now.
Don’t be the cheapest solution.
Be the Ideal Solution.
Grow and be well,
Kelly Erickson
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27 December 2008, 7:29 pm
Well said and well written. While the focus in my particular niche is always price it’s very difficult to emphasize the value associated with a business. Being or making yourself available to try to help out customers with their problems may not be the most cost effective method of selling technology but in my opinion the relationship you make with your customers should last longer than the time it takes for your check to clear or your card to be debited or charged.
30 December 2008, 12:11 pm
The famous old sign on the wall of the auto garage:
“Cheap. Fast. Good. Pick any two.”
I think cheaper and faster got us where we are now, because I don’t see a lot of people asking for “good” as their first requirement.
It’s the eternal argument I have with my wife when I go to buy shoes (yes, shoes). She doesn’t get why I want to pay $100+ for shoes when you can get them for less than $20 at Wal-Mart.
(Hint: the $100 shoes can be repaired, and will last 5 to 10 years if you look after them.)
I worked in technical sales years ago and saw it all the time. I could sell a client a much better product for about 10 percent more, that would last many times longer and could be repaired.
Not once did anyone want that – the penny pincher buyers were cost-only, because they always figured they’d pass the repair costs on to their customers.
Yeah. Until their equipment was down for a week and they lost customers…
Heck, never mind picking any two. Pick one.
Be GOOD.
Be the best. The ideal.
-Brett
Brett Legree’s last blog post…viking fridays – burning logs and reindeer bones.
30 December 2008, 1:42 pm
Butch,
I agree completely. And that relationship can show that you are the expert, the specialist… then there’s your value. You know the old saying, people buy from people.
Welcome, and thanks for your comment!
Brett,
(The famous sign on the left wall of MCE, too.
‘Course I only let folks pick one.)
Scary, and very true. “Good” is an afterthought, or the thought after cheaper and faster have been tried and have gotten someone into a real pickle.
The shoes is a great analogy. Is it old-fashioned values? Maybe, but I have shoes, coats, and half my closet, now that I think about it, that have lasted well over 10 years because I spent good money on quality stuff. Same with services—everything from auto repairs to attorneys (boy do I know that one) to accountants.
Then once you’ve settled on never cheaping out again, you have to shout it and get folks to hear it…
But that’s another post!
Regards,
Kelly
30 December 2008, 2:54 pm
Kelly,
One of the recently retired Senior VP’s at the Factory started saying “cheaper! faster! better!” about 10 years ago (right when our current flagship product’s development was starting)… well, he’s gone now, and in 10 years we haven’t sold a single unit
It might be old fashioned values, or maybe you and I are just mature (seeing as we’re both 29 again) and we like quality.
You’re right. Once you’ve settled on never cheaping out, you can’t ever do it with anything.
For instance – I need a new razor, as my old one (electric) is dying. I have decided to go back to blades.
I found one from Germany that literally has a lifetime warranty, it is an old fashioned double-sided single-blade safety razor (like grandpa used). It will run me about $120 for the razor, the blades will be maybe 3-4 cents each, so in the long run it will actually be the least expensive solution – way cheaper than a Ultra Super Turbo Gillette Warp 9.
The brunt of the cost is up front, but I know I’ll have a quality product that I’ll still be using when I’m 29 with 60 years experience…
Another funny thing – the difference between “cheap” and “good” is often not that much. But some folks would rather save the money today, even though they’ll spend it all over again in six months… *sigh*
-Brett
Brett Legree’s last blog post…viking fridays – burning logs and reindeer bones.
30 December 2008, 3:09 pm
Brett,
I hear you, I hear you. Especially on the sigh.
I don’t think it’s maturity, exactly, because as you point out, at the highest (& usually most “mature”) levels, some execs don’t get it. That hurts, just as it’s hurt your Factory.
…
Your wife is glad you haven’t decided to go back to a blade and a strop to sharpen it and your reflection in a stream, though. Must have a clean-cut Viking, even if it costs!
^^
. .
^
o
Until later,
Kelly
30 December 2008, 6:38 pm
Kelly,
I guess you’re right – maturity comes at different ages, for us, it was 29
for others, it never does…
You’re right about the clean-cut thing, usually at this time of year I have too much mead and get the foolish idea that I won’t shave anymore… which usually lasts about three days before Mrs. Viking sets Mr. Viking straight!
^ ^
. .
^
o
-Brett
Brett Legree’s last blog post…viking fridays – burning logs and reindeer bones.
30 December 2008, 6:41 pm
LOL!