Choices Are Powerful
Human beings prefer choices, and therefore choices are powerful. When you offer choices in proposals to clients, you’re not only harnessing that power to your advantage, but it’s better for the client, too. The Price and Value Journey is presented by John Ray and produced by the North Fulton studio of Business RadioX®.
TRANSCRIPT
John Ray: [00:00:00] And hello, I’m John Ray on the Price and Value Journey.
John Ray: [00:00:04] Choices are powerful. Human beings prefer choices which offer a sense of control versus receiving an ultimatum. If you’ve ever had teenagers, you know that’s true. It’s just the way we’re wired. It’s really true for all of us.
John Ray: [00:00:25] Here’s one area that this fundamental aspect of human behavior is playing out right now. That’s getting employees back to work or back to the office or whatever you want to call it. I suspect that a big explanation of why some companies are challenged by getting their employees back into the office has to do with a take it or leave it mandate that’s delivered from on high, the old command and control way of managing a firm. Conversely, it looks like those companies who are successfully dealing with those return-to-office issues are those that are offering options to their employees.
John Ray: [00:01:10] Options are powerful because they invite engagement. They invite a dialogue that’s focused on problem-solving between two parties. If command and control CEOs, instead of issuing edicts, asked questions and fostered communication, they might find workable solutions which engage their workforce. It’s one example for you as a professional services provider of why offering options is so powerful. Your proposal, now I prefer the term engagement options, but I’ll call it a proposal. Your proposal should have different options, three ideally, which provide varying levels of engagement. When you offer engagement options, you invite a dialogue which leads to better outcomes for both the client and for you.
John Ray: [00:02:10] Choices are powerful. Offering options is essential to maximizing the value you offer to clients.
John Ray: [00:02:21] I’m John Ray on the Price and Value Journey. If you’d like to connect with me directly, you can go to my website, johnray.co. You can also send me an email, john@johnray.co. If you’d like to subscribe to this podcast, you can find it on your favorite podcast app, and you can also find a complete show archive at pricevaluejourney.com. Thank you for joining me.
About The Price and Value Journey
The title of this show describes the journey all professional services providers are on: building a services practice by seeking to convince the world of the value we offer, helping clients achieve the outcomes they desire, and trying to do all that at pricing which reflects the value we deliver.
If you feel like you’re working too hard for too little money in your solo or small firm practice, this show is for you. Even if you’re reasonably happy with your practice, you’ll hear ways to improve both your bottom line as well as the mindset you bring to your business.
The show is produced by the North Fulton studio of Business RadioX® and can be found on all the major podcast apps. The complete show archive is here.
John Ray, Host of The Price and Value Journey
John Ray is the host of The Price and Value Journey.
John owns Ray Business Advisors, a business advisory practice. John’s services include advising solopreneur and small professional services firms on their pricing. John is passionate about the power of pricing for business owners, as changing pricing is the fastest way to change the profitability of a business. His clients are professionals who are selling their “grey matter,” such as attorneys, CPAs, accountants and bookkeepers, consultants, marketing professionals, and other professional services practitioners.
In his other business, John a Studio Owner, Producer, and Show Host with Business RadioX®, and works with business owners who want to do their own podcast. As a veteran B2B services provider, John’s special sauce is coaching B2B professionals to use a podcast to build relationships in a non-salesy way which translate into revenue.
John is the host of North Fulton Business Radio, Minneapolis-St. Paul Business Radio, Nashville Business Radio, Alpharetta Tech Talk, and Business Leaders Radio. house shows which feature a wide range of business leaders and companies. John has hosted and/or produced over 1,100 podcast episodes.
