The 10 Laws of Life

Being a real fan of simplicity I love these very simple insights to the ideal laws of life.....

Life Law #1:   You either get it, or you don't.

 Become one of those who gets it.

Life Law #2:   You create your own experience.

Acknowledge and accept accountability for your life.

Life Law #3:   People do what works.

Identify the payoffs that drive your behaviour and that of others.

Life Law #4:   You cannot change what you do not acknowledge.

Get real with yourself about your life and everybody in it.

Life Law #5:    Life rewards action.

Make careful decisions and then pull the trigger.

Life Law #6:    There is no reality; only perception.

Identify the filters through which you view the world.

Life Law #7:    Life is managed.  It is not cured.

Learn to take charge of your life.

Life Law #8:    We teach people how to treat us.

Own, rather than complain about how other people treat you.

Life Law #9:    There is power in forgiveness.

Open your eyes to what anger and resentment are doing to you.

Life Law #10:  You have to name it before you can claim it.

Get clear about what you want and take your turn.

Source: “Life Strategies” by Phillip C. McGraw,

    New York: Hyperion Books, 1999.  ISBN 0-7868-6548-2

Why Prospects Challenge Your Pricing Proposition

Your prospects & clients want several things from you, as their supplier.  They look for fair price, quality products & services, and timely service (though not necessarily in this order).  Surveys suggest most consumers want timely and responsive service as a first priority, quality products & services, second, and low prices, third.

Surveys of sales groups over a 20 year period, asking what they thought was most important to consumers, on the other hand have revealed a different, yet consistent perception…low price comes first, quality next and service last.

There’s clearly a difference in perceptions and expectations between the two groups, which is interesting.

Three elements need to be understood in selling situations if you’re going to effectively deal with the challenge of price.

• First is price, which is what we, as consumers, pay for what we buy.  
• Second is cost,  which is what it costs us over time, what it costs us if we do it wrong, do it late, or not at all.  
• Third is perceived value.  That’s the value we expect for the money we pay.

Most consumers tell salespeople they want low price…when what they really want is low cost.  It’s natural to want to take issue with this statement, but consider what you, as a consumer want.  Do you want the cheapest, or do you want the product or service that best solves your problem, answers your need, or fulfills your desire?

The truth is, most prospects or clients want their problems solved.  They recognise they get what they pay for.  They also know that the distaste of poor quality lasts far longer than the sweetness of the tantalisingly low price.

Buyers will object to price when they feel what they’re being asked to pay is higher than the value they perceive in the transaction.  When an ineffective salesperson encounters price resistance, they usually lower the price.

Unfortunately it’s not usually a price or cost issue at all, rather one of the perceived value being too low. What can you do to raise your prospects/clients notion of the relative value of what you’re selling?

A simple way is to find out what is troubling them most, and then show them how your product or service will satisfy, or overcome this need, want, or obstacle…or, even better, exceed their expectations of value.  This way, price will become secondary.  Not cost, but price.

Real sales pros focus on value…that is, what the product or service does for the customer…and not the price they’ll pay.  They understand that while price is an issue, it’s usually not the most important one.  Price will always seem high when perceived value is low.

The way to change the relationship between price and value in the purchaser’s mind is to focus on raising the value perception.  Lowering price only makes them view your original price, as well as the new, lower one with suspicion.

It’ll become evident that you don’t want to introduce price too early in the sales process…especially not before you've had the opportunity to build a value proposition in the mind of your prospect.  If you have a buyer who’s a price-only shopper (they are out there, aren't they), you’ll need to decide what their business will be worth to you in the long run, or if it will ever be worth anything.

History has shown that prospects who make a big deal out of price, expecting price adjustments…will ultimately require a lot of other concessions, extras, etc., as well.  Use their attitude about price and cost as a barometer of the overall quality of the relationship with you and your products in general.

This isn't to say you should never lower price…only that you should never make your first reaction to price resistance a lower price.

Remember!  Once you've set a pricing precedent with a client, you’ll live with it for the life of that relationship …and, of course, anyone they might refer you to.

Now that's worth thinking about

If you'd ;like to know how to increase the value, focus on the value add in your business attend the Business Growth Program, where we'll challenge you to think differently about how you do business.

Alternately feel free to give us a call on 01626 906348 or email stevegaskell@actioncoach.com 

Why Problem-Based Positioning is a Psychological Magnet

Are you struggling to create a memorable positioning statement for your marketing?  Do you want to stand out from your competition, but the uniqueness of your business seems to elude you?

Here’s a sneaky, vital secret that turns conventional marketing psychology on its head.  By changing your positioning statement, find out how to transform your weakest link into your strongest marketing tool ever.

Avis is Only Number 2…So, Why Go With Them…

Years ago, in the rental car market, Hertz was chugging along merrily, with Avis a distant second.  With one Problem-Based USP, Avis closed the gap.  Its catch phrase, "We’re No.2, We Try Harder," ignited the minds of the target audience like a rampaging bush fire.  They turned a liability into an asset.

Southwest Airlines took to the skies with a similar message.  We’re Smaller Than Everyone Else, it told us, while gently explaining why its service was dramatically better, as a direct consequence of their size.  They also turned a liability into an asset.

In 2001, Harley Davidson proudly boasted how their CEO was 38th on the waiting list for the company's then, new V-Rod motorcycle.  And they took pains to describe how each Harley was lovingly rolled off the plant.  The waiting period, which normally would be perceived to be a negative, was turned into a publicity coup that burned a stamp of quality and a uniqueness into the brains of every prospective Harley owner.

All of these companies took a cold, hard-nosed look at reality.  The superlatives in their business had been taken.  Instead they unearthed their USP, in what most people would consider a disadvantage of sorts.

Are You Doing What Sally Did…

Sally is one heck of a real estate agent.  Barely six months into real estate, and she’s already forging a red-hot path into the top ten salespeople in the country.  While her talents and persuasive powers are formidable, there’s a little something that puts her head and shoulders above the rest of the crowd.

That Little Something is a USP on Steroids…

If she chose to be unimaginative, Sally’s USP or tagline could have ended up as pretty run-of-the-mill.  It could have ranged from a tacky, "Residential Properties for Every Budget," to utterly boring, "Getting Top Prices for Your Home."  All of which would see her struggling to stand out, in a dog-eat-dog me-too marketplace.  A goody-gum-drop USP would get her nowhere in a hurry.  She needed a USP with rocket fuel in its tanks.  Something that would reach out and demand your attention without hesitation.

“If You Sold Your Home in a Week or Less, You Probably Got Too Little…”

How to Create a Knockout USP for Your Business…

The Primary Reason You Should Search for the Hiccups in Your Business…

That’s the USP that Sally created.  Can you see what I mean?  Doesn't that USP go for your jugular?  Sally’s target audience is sellers, not buyers.  If you just sold a house, wouldn't you feel a twinge of regret?  What if you were about to sell a house?  Wouldn't you be curious to find out just a little bit about what Sally does to lasso in a higher return?  And wouldn't you be just a little bit wary if the next real estate agent you met told you that she could sell your house in next to no time?

You've just witnessed the psychological power of the Problem-Based USP.

Let’s assume you’re in the wine selling business.  To own real estate in a customer’s brain, you’d have to do battle with about a zillion other wines.  Yet decades ago, Paul Masson cut through the clutter with a simple statement.  We sell no wines before their time.  With charming simplicity, they turned a negative waiting period into an exploitable advantage.

You too can turn your liabilities into assets.  Stop screaming about how magnificent you are, and look for the apparent glitches in your business.  Let’s just consider a few scenarios.  Are you perceived to be too expensive, extremely slow, or maybe just too busy?

Consider when PsychoTactics.com launched their website and were faced with a similar dilemma. As human beings, we often disdain simplicity and common sense.  The distillation process needed to simplify a concept into easy-to-munch bites is often just seen as common sense, and of no huge intrinsic value.  Taking that liability into consideration, PsychoTactics.com created a USP concept that stressed the fact that everything was not just old, but at least 5000 years old.  In fact, everything has already been tried and tested.  That put them into a mould that was totally different from all the new-fangled marketing angles we hear about every day.  The liability of common sense was turned into the asset of experience.

Best of all, it turned a problem into a winning USP concept.

Finding what makes you beneficially different is a notoriously difficult task.  However, just about any client or potential buyer will very quickly identify your weaknesses and liabilities.  If it’s a technical problem, you can fix it.  If it’s a conceptual problem such as speed or price, it’s much harder to fix.

This, however, is the key to your success.  The more you try to keep your weaknesses and liabilities under wraps, the more customers will uncover them.  On the other hand, take a liability and turn it into an asset.  Expose a problem to the harsh glare of the spotlight and transform your frog into a prince.  This brave act will gain the instant admiration and support of your clients, while giving you a USP that others simply won’t have the guts to match.

Can You Make the Leap?

Creating a negative USP is a tricky, dangerous tactic, and one not to be taken lightly.  "We're slow and proud of it!" is hardly a selling point, yet fulfills the requirements laid out in this article.  However, if you’ve been struggling with your USP, as many companies do, this is a tactic that may work well for you—as it has with some of the companies above.

It’s time you tickled your customer’s brain with some sharply focused psychological marketing jujitsu.  Find the weaknesses and liabilities in your business, carve them into a dynamic USP, and the attention your business has been craving for, will be yours forever more.

And that’s worth thinking about…