Most businesses can get a bit more efficient, but to get as cheap as possible, they will have to cut corners, sacrifice quality and take benefits away.
At some point – not far from where you’re at – cheapness becomes a descriptor and not a signal of efficiency.
It’s worth noting that no brand was ever known for being the cheapest. And if they are, I’d bet they’re no longer in business.
Two thoughts on a pricing solution:
Charge enough to cover slightly more than the cost of creating the goods
Charge less enough to ensure people feel they are getting more value out than the cost they’re putting in
What makes any task as difficult as it is is uncertainty.
When expectations are not clear, it’s tough to do a good job because we don’t know how “good” is being defined.
When we’re told to do better without an explanation of what better means in that moment to that person, there’s a small likelihood that we’ll actually do better.
If you want a server to kick ass at your dinner table, tell him the type of people and situation he’s working with. “I’m meeting a couple of buddies” and “We’re trying hard to woo these new clients” can influence how the server serves.
Setting others up for success is just as easy and important at work. When a colleague walks into a room, does she know what her responsibility is in the meeting? Is she a note taker? Ideator? Challenger? Silent listener? What’s her role and does she know it?
The saddest part of all of this is when we get mad at others for not living up to our expectations when we never shared them.
Or, perhaps worse, is when we don’t live up to anothers’ expectations because we never asked what they were of us.
There’s a near 70-year-old woman who is moving to panama to live her life because it’s affordable as heck to do so.
There’s a volleyball player that serves from the edge opposite of where everyone else serves.
There’s a professional that puts a “fodder” section at the end of her project briefs so people may be inspired by ideas she has that didn’t quite fit other sections in the brief.
When you think of it, the norm is smaller than we think, so getting outside the norm is easier than we think, too.
We don’t have to do something insane to be different or create a competitive advantage for ourselves.
Sometimes taking a few steps to the left, sharing our thoughts and living outside our bubble is all it takes to stand out and make a difference.
