A long time business owner with a track record of many successes told me he’s planning a pivot.
He’ll apply his knowledge and expertise to a new field.
As he talked, I could see it happening. He had the right combination of emotion and logic to attract clients.
And then he described the options and price points.
All I could think was…
“Get off the ground floor!
You’re not a newbie
“You’re not a newbie” I said, “hoping to dip a toe into the entrepreneurial waters. You’ve been swimming in them for decades.
You have worked with large company executives in a variety of industries.
Price for the IMPACTs you’ll deliver, not for the length of time since you pivoted.”
Pivot but don’t start from scratch
My point: although this pivot is new, he and his company are not new. He must launch at the level of IMPACTs his expertise supports.
Why do experienced Owners do this?
You—like everyone—have a committee.
What committee is that you wonder?
It’s the committee that resides in your head and shouts in your ear:
- You can’t do that!
- You don’t know enough!
- What will people say?
- You’ll never be successful like that guy or gal.
- Just stay in your lane, don’t embarrass yourself.
The committee gets extremely loud and agitated when you try to do something new, something bold, something that may rock the boat.
The committee is made up of remnants from your past, teachers, managers, co-workers, and others who at one time or another judged you as lacking something.
That judgement took a place in your committee and hasn’t let go.
It’s not you, it’s the other, and you can boot it right out.
Back to our pivoter.
He told me he thought he’d go after the entry level market first to get his feet wet.
Then he would gradually improve his options and increase his prices.
I asked him how long that might take.
“Too long,” he said with a wry grin.
Launch to the mid-level
“Okay,” I said, “then launch to the mid-level market with mid-level IMPACTS and above, and price proportional to the IMPACTS.
Within 45 minutes we had sketched out the options.
We started with this key question:
What are the unmet needs of the mid-level market?
But that’s not enough.
Then we talked about what outcomes he’d deliver to meet those needs.
But that’s not enough.
Then we discussed the IMPACTs those outcomes would make possible.
That’s where pricing begins.
Where pricing begins
Not the inputs, not the outcomes, but the IMPACTs.
If the work your company does increases or decreases something like revenue, costs, leads, accurate financial statements, compliance with regulations, etc., you have to take the next step and ask:
How do those increases or decreases change the clients’ lives?
Or, I should say, you ask the client to tell you how those increases or decreases will change their lives.
The beauty of IMPACT Based Pricing
That’s the beauty of IMPACT Based Pricing.
You don’t guess, you let the client tell you. You listen, ask a few more questions, and then design options to deliver those very IMPACTs.
Our pivoter went back to his drawing board, so to speak.
He talked with a few recent clients to find out if the pivot would be of interest and why.
There are another dozen or so meetings scheduled before he finalizes the designs of his options.
He told me “I’m learning so much, just by asking people if they’re making progress or if they’re stuck.
The ones who are stuck are telling me so many things I hadn’t thought of myself. I realize it’s hard to understand what it feels like to be stuck when I’m not stuck myself!”
There you have it.
Learn from people who are stuck and want to get unstuck.
Then design offers that will change their lives they way they want them changed.
How about you?
Where are you stuck and what would it mean to get unstuck?
If you’re stuck with last year’s revenue, a stagnant net profit margin, or negative cash flow, I can help.
Text STUCK to 703-801-0345 and we can talk.
