Pricing For Profit

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Benefits = Value = $$$

If you increase the benefits the customer perceives, then you will also increase the value they are receiving.

Value differs from customer to customer. This is where value pricing comes in. ‘Customer A’ might perceive the value of a list of benefits at one level, and ‘Customer B’ might perceive the value the same list at another – each depending on their current situation, their strengths and their weaknesses.

Think specifically about the customer before offering a price point. What is their perceived value of your offer? How much would they value what you are giving them? And price accordingly.

Too many times we leave money on the table because we have not accurately assessed our customer and their perceived value.

To add to this, to increase the value, you need to increase the benefits. Just one additional benefit which to you might not seem valuable, to someone else could hold huge value! And in turn, this small, seemingly insignificant benefit could mean you can demand a much higher price than you could before!

Benefits = Value = $$$

How can you increase the value of your offering?

Generously Manage Your Money

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You CAN afford to be generous. Everyone can! It’s a simple matter of good money management. If you budget for it, it can be done.

The benefits of being generous go beyond the individual or organisation you are giving to. You get something out of it too! And it’s not just the good feeling you get inside either…

Luke 6:38

“Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”

It is a biblical principle that if we are generous to others, we receive also, and in a way that we could never imagine! Managing your money well and being a good steward of what you have been given is what we are called to do. And if you do the right thing, you will surely be rewarded.

Be good and deliberate with your money. Manage it properly. Know where is has gone and where it will be coming from.

The challenge is out there. What can you give to help make a difference? No matter how much it is, everyone can afford to be generous!

Eliminate Waste

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What do we mean by eliminating waste? Waste is any activity that adds cost or time to a process, yet fails to add value to the customer or the business.

By identifying and eliminating waste, we will also increase our productivity. Productivity is about continuously improving what we do to make things simple and easy to use, and it involves streamlining processes, reducing errors, planning ahead and being efficient in all that we do.

This is not only a business principle, it’s a life principle too. Imagine if you didn’t waste one second of your life; that everything you did was productive and had purpose. Just think about what you could accomplish!

Being highly organised helps you to eliminate waste and be more productive. Take this very simple example:

Eliminating Time Wastage

Filing – Whether this be electronic or paper filing. Make the effort to file your important documents in a logical place as soon as something comes in and then next time you need to use it you will know exactly where it is! Office and procedure processes help with keeping this level of organisation, especially if you have employees.

It doesn’t take long in the first instance, and can save you a truck load of time and stress down the track.

Eliminate the waste. Time is the only thing we can’t recycle.

Are You Playing To Your Strengths?

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How often are we told to focus on improving our weaknesses? This is the apparent formula to becoming a “well-rounded” individual.

Well I think that if you want to be a “well-rounded” individual, eat a Mars Bar each day!

Wouldn’t you rather be a razor sharp individual; an expert in your field? Wouldn’t it be better you spend your time working in the area of your strengths, building on them so that you can focus your efforts and get better results?

Take some time to think of a couple of people that you would consider experts. I can guarantee that all these people devoted their lives to developing their natural strengths, and not working on those that they weren’t so good at.

Consider Sally Pearson… do you think she became a World Champion hurdler by spending time working on her shot put? No she played to her natural talent and invested her time perfecting every aspect of her hurdling race, from the start to the finish.

Without natural talent it is unlikely that you will ever perfect an area of weakness, you will become average at best.

Recognise that you are able to do some things better than I can, and I can do some things better than you. Then use this knowledge to partner up with a team who is strong where you are weak. Allow yourself to delegate the tasks that you don’t enjoy or find it comes naturally, to someone who does.

For more help in identifying your strengths, take a look at Now Discover Your Strengths by Marcus Buckingham

Are you playing to your strengths?

Planning – Always Know Where You’re Headed

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I don’t do anything without a plan first.

They say failing to plan is planning to fail.

It gives direction, it brings focus and drives what you do every day.

Over the last couple of weeks we have said that we need to:

  1. Organise our business and personal lives by writing a task list and calendarising them
  2. Create a vision & get a team behind you motivated towards a common dream
  3. Write down your vision and goals you want to set for yourself along the way

So how do we reach our goals which will in turn lead to achieving our vision and therefore improve our quality of life? Good question…

Goal setting needs to follow the SMART rule:

  • Specific
  • Measurable
  • Achievable
  • Realistic
  • Time bound

Most of you have probably heard that acronym before, but how many of you actually set goals, and if you do, then how many of your goals satisfy each of these rules?

Each rule is essential in having a goal that will actually lead towards your vision.

Give it a go. Work hard, stay focused, and enjoy every day.

What Has Your Focus?

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Last time I wrote I asked a couple of questions…

What is your vision?

What are your goals?

Are you motivated by them?

Who do you have supporting you along the way?

Have you taken time out to think about these?  I hope you have jotted something down to start the process of forming an ideal vision for your business and your life, and setting some realistic goals which will allow you to reach your ultimate vision.

Habakkuk 2:2-3

“Write the vision; make it plain on tablets, so he may run who reads it. For still the vision awaits its appointed time; it hastens to the end—it will not lie. If it seems slow, wait for it; it will surely come; it will not delay.”

It’s amazing that the bible can be so old yet so relevant. Write down you vision so that everyone you live and work with knows where you’re heading. Get everyone on board so you are all moving in the same direction. Allow yourself to focus on those activities that will get you closer to your goals, and steer clear of those that will only distract you.

It may take time, but stick at it.

Focus is an amazing thing. You can accomplish anything if it is your focus.

What has your focus?

What’s Your Vision?

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Haven’t the Olympics been great! It reminds me of a time (a while ago now) when I used to train as an athlete. My days of being a competitive swimmer involved early mornings; very early mornings! My alarm went off at 4.23am. The day had begun. Off for my morning training session.

The commitment I had made to swimming was not only a personal one. As a teenager it’s not all that easy getting from here to there without a license, so the commitment extended to my parents.

“So are you feeling pumped this morning Lise?”

Sometimes I responded, other times I didn’t.

“In this training session it’s all up to you! Are you going to be a cruise ship or a destroyer? You know the difference between ordinary and extraordinary is just that little bit EXTRA!”

Dad’s pep talk would continue until we reached the pool, however I’m convinced he kept going to himself on his way home in the car.

Dad had caught my vision of wanting to be the best swimmer I could. To give myself the opportunity to go as fast as ever by giving my all in each and every training session. Without that support I would never have been in the position to compete at multiple Australian Swimming Championships including the 2000 Olympic trials.

The questions beg to be asked…

What is your vision?

What are your goals?

Are you motivated by them?

Who do you have supporting you along the way?

Let this quote resonate with you… “If you aim at nothing you are bound to hit it.”

Until next time…

When it’s a Routine, it Gets DONE!

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It’s amazing what you can accomplish when you get yourself into a routine. Things just  don’t seem as hard to do. It’s just a part of what you do every day and it doesn’t seem like a big deal. You will find you get more done in your day when you set yourself up with a routine.

Take exercise as an example. Everyone needs to exercise. It is essential for a healthy lifestyle. Whether it be going to the gym or out for a run or a bike ride, we all need to do it. If you give yourself the option to pull out, on a cold wet day you most certainly will. But if it is part of your routine it just what you do. You don’t even think about the weather and you will get through your session and feel better for it, without having the mental battle of should I or shouldn’t I.

Not only can we apply routines to our personal lives, but to our working lives as well. Things like making Tuesday mornings invoice day, and Thursday afternoons customer contact time, if it’s part of a routine, it will get done.

Here’s what you do:

  1. Write a list of all office tasks that needs to get done on a weekly, fortnightly, monthly and yearly basis.
  2. Decide how long each task will take you.
  3. Get a calendar – You can use one from Outlook if you use it, download one from www.google.com/calendar or use an old fashioned flip chart calendar.
  4. Calendarise each task.
  5. Stick to it!

When it’s a routine, it gets done.

Good luck!

Welcome to Better Your Business

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Welcome to the Better Your Business blog. On these pages you will experience a holistic approach to improving your business and your life.

Being organised, focused, setting plans and being goal oriented will get you on the right path to Better Your Business. If it sounds like hard work to you, bear with me. It doesn’t have to be. You might not do it all yourself though. That’s one thing I have learnt over the years. You just can’t be all things to all men, no matter how hard you try. We are just not designed to be good at everything! But every single one of us, yes everyone, has something we excel in, and funnily enough, it’s probably the thing we enjoy doing the most! Focus on that, and let other people take care of the rest. This will definitely lead to a much happier and healthier you.

Join me as we walk through what it means to have a Better Business and a Better Life.