Why Are You Worth It?

In preparing for the programs I deliver, I interview a lot of people with the company or in the industry I am working with. One of the lines of questioning people struggle with the most has to do with …why should I want to do business with you … what differentiates you from your competition … your competitor’s price was lower, so why should I pay you more? I have seen veterans of their industry who were extremely experienced, talented, and knowledgeable struggle with those questions.

Is having the lowest price the only reason people will do business with a company? Absolutely not! If it was, Rolex, Mercedes Benz, Godiva Chocolate, Louie Vuitton, Cartier, Dom Perignon and Neiman Marcus, even Starbucks (to name a few) … would have serious problems. People pay high to ridiculous prices for things all the time. The average mark-up for movie theater popcorn is 1,275 percent. The mark-up on diamonds can run from 50 to 200 percent. According to Food Network Magazine, some salad bar items are marked up more than 350 percent and if you order a glass of Coke when you’re dining out, you could pay 300 to 600 percent over cost … but we still buy it.

Dishing out $450 for Armani sunglasses is over a 1,000 percent mark-up. But, they’re “Armani,” so are they worth it? To some people, they are. Baked goods are marked-up 100 percent, greeting cards 200 percent, coffee & tea 300 percent, and wine & minibars in hotels are marked-up 400 percent … and we still fork over the money. But, the one that really has me going is the cost of WATER. Some experts’ claim bottled water’s mark-up reaches 4,000 percent. Yet, so many of us still buy it with absurd mark-ups.

Sometimes we pay the higher price because of our ego, sometimes out of convenience and sometimes because it is worth it. That is the point I want to address today. How can you articulate to your customer that what they are getting ready to spend with you is WORTH IT? We all need to understand that customers do not always buy on price. They default to price in the absence of value and/or a quality service. If you plan on being successful in business, then you better understand your Value Proposition like you know your own name. You don’t really cost more … you do more, deliver more, handle more, understand more, create more, are more efficient, do it right the first time, do it on-time every time, look better, taste better, last longer, have less down time … you are simply worth more … for what you do.

Make sure everyone in your company understands not only what you do, but WHY you are worth it. I use FedEx and pay more because “When it absolutely, positively has to be there overnight,” they do it and have the statistics to back-up that claim up. According to Mercedes Benz they are "engineered like no other car in the world." Well if that is the case, they better be able to give me some examples. Remember, consumers will default to price in the ABSENCE of VALUE. So, being able to explain your value is critical to your success.

 ARE YOU REALLY WORTH IT? – TELL ME WHY!