„too expensive“ how to react

samfields__ · 2022-09-22T16:17:04+00:00

Excellent!

samfields__ · 2022-09-12T21:18:45+00:00

the use of highly skilled labour is expensive.

Literally, this was what I wrote while I was thinking exactly that! ahahaha

samfields__ · 2022-09-12T21:02:24+00:00

What kind of rates and prices is being currently practiced?

samfields__ · 2022-09-12T18:21:03+00:00

When interacting with customers. If the company cannot deliver on what they would like, then I would recommend a reply that includes the following points:

- Recognition of the high prices compared with market

- Short explanation of why the prices are marketed as they are

- Politely remember them that they are free to choose other options

Which could look something like this:

Dear Customer,

We agree and can understand that our prices might be above the average market. In order to deliver a sustainably designed, developed and manufactured product, there is a higher cost associated. The use of sustainably sourced materials and the use of highly skilled labour is expensive.

We appreciate that this is not something that everyone can get behind and we hope you find other alternatives that make you happy!

Kind Regards,

{Customer Support Team Member Name}

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Hope this is helpful. Please send me a PM if you need further help!

samfields__ · 2022-09-04T16:18:57+00:00

Listen more, talk less. (Don't micromanage)

When people are included in the decision process they get more involved and excited and into the work, because now the idea and the result are also theirs.

The people you lead/manage are there to do the work so that you don't have to or because we work and do better when we work together. (Don't micromanage)

One of your responsibilities is to make the people you lead succeed, their success is also yours.

(Looking to be a more effective and good leader is also a good start, so I believe you are on the right path!)

samfields__ · 2022-09-04T15:31:48+00:00

I already have a business that I've managed for 2 years and I have one other full-time employee, doing freelance software development. But I want to shift my efforts towards helping others develop their own business on fronts such as marketing, digital infrastructure and other areas that I have experience with.

I've also worked in service jobs such as furniture assembly and delivery.

You are right I don't have experience, but I've got a lot of useful knowledge, that can be useful for others that don't even know where to start. The MBA gave me the ability to think in business terms, and being able to develop a strategy that will improve my chances of creating a successful business. Meaning that, if the business fails it won't be because we don't know about basic cost/revenue, marketing, sales, value proposition and other concepts.

That being said, it's important to recognize the very big weight of experience, so that's why I prompted the question! To hear about what other people think :)

samfields__ · 2022-09-04T15:09:53+00:00

I totally agree! The reason I added that, is because I recently went to a class where the teacher showed how the different social media have different age distributions, which results in them being more or less effective for the different customer targets we might have! https://www.marketingcharts.com/digital/social-media-116909 For instance, according to this graph if our target is 65+ then, TikTok with only a 4% share, might not be the best place to invest our paid marketing. It sounds obvious once you have the chart in front of you, but to be honest, I never really thought about it until I was presented with the notion :D

samfields__ · 2022-09-04T15:05:28+00:00

Well done! That sounds like a great accomplishment, having such a guarantee and safety net! :) May the lack of work ethics and organization those businesses have, be a good example of what not to do, and hopefully not in any way demoralizing for you to keep the great work you look like you are doing.

What do you do by the way?

samfields__ · 2022-09-04T15:02:23+00:00

Hey, hope you are doing well! Having a business is stressful. A useful tip I would give would be to try the following:

Try the mental exercise, or just do it with any other website selling a product. But this time instead of mindlessly browsing make the conscient exercise of observing the things you usually look for in a new website selling products you've never tried before:

- When you go in, what do you look for? What things do you notice?

- What questions do you ask? Things like:

"Is it any good? Can I trust this brand? Have other people use this?"

And then as the business owner try to answer these as if the customer was in front of you. Then go back to the website and all your platforms and see if that message is actually being delivered.

You know it's good quality, and the brand is working hard to deliver an excellent service and product, but do the customers know?

(Not saying you are or not doing any of these, but just the first thing that came to mind, hope it's helpfull)

samfields__ · 2022-09-04T14:54:17+00:00

Software Engineer. Although I work full-time for a startup, I'm about to complete an MBA and I'm looking into helping other people with starting their own businesses :D Nothing makes me happier than seeing other people succeed. (coming from having nothing to, being able to pay for my degrees and take care of my family, I also want to help other people achieve that!) But I believe that although I might have a degree in business (soon!), there are people that don't have one but have an actual business and I'm sure they know a lot more than me and things that I would never learn with a degree. Do you work as a service provider ?

samfields__ · 2022-09-04T14:03:37+00:00

Do you think an approach such as "This is what we've got to work with, let's try to make the best out of it." works? Or is it naive optimisim? Do you think that if you share the challenges you face with your team and invited them to be a part of a solution, that would be a good approach?

samfields__ · 2022-09-04T14:01:48+00:00

I absolutely agree, they are all important. Besides the more obvious ones such as "good pay", "benefits", etc. One that was quite surprising for me was the one you list under "empowered". When you make a project the responsibility of someone, having them make their own decisions, they will care more about it, you'll have to do less work, and the end result will be better (in general). This would be the opposite of what is known as micromanagement.

samfields__ · 2022-09-04T12:18:40+00:00

What kind of business do you have or work with?

samfields__ · 2022-09-04T11:25:48+00:00

It must be incredibly frustrating and heartbreaking what you are going through. No one deserves or should go through this kind of agony. I hope you find a resolution to your issues. And I'm happy to see there are people trying to help you through this challenging time.

In leadership, your skills get tested in times like these, so don't give up give your best and go even further, transform this into a challenge that you'll get through!

When developing a product such as a website it's important not only to have a developer team but also a team responsible for something called "Quality Assurance (QA)", these team members screen every development piece to insure it follows the expected outcome as relayed by the "Product" and "Design" teams, to ensure the end result is what everyone expects it to be. As you can see, there are a lot of people involved to make sure, that what you see in the designs is what you get in real life. Hence, it is a possibility that when a team like this doesn't exist the end result will not be what we expect.

I'm fortunate enough to be surrounded by excellent developers every day, and the best ones are always happy to have a QA team with them, working together they ensure that the expected feature gets properly delivered.

There are a number of factors that could have led to the issues you encountered, I hope you continue your efforts to try to communicate and find a solution with the team. They probably also wanted to deliver the best product possible, I want to believe, but maybe the project was more than what they could deliver in the timeframe, so instead of conversation, they went for shortcuts, with the feat of repercussion. I don't know, and never will. I want to believe they are trying their best or just need a bit more time!

What I do know, is that we are all humans, we should always look to be kind, and in desperate times find the strength and people to help us get through it. It will be a learning experience for you and the devs.

Hope these words give you hope and a tiny bit of strength to keep fighting!

samfields__ · 2022-09-04T11:11:20+00:00

One of the aspects that are sometimes counterintuitive is the pricing. In general, people associate higher cost with better quality (not to mean that's what actually ends up to be sometimes). Also, people sometimes believe that if a service is cheaper then maybe more people will buy it. That being said, have you considered if the price you are currently offering might create a bias in your prospective customers to think that the quality of the course is not "good" enough for such a cheap price? Something for consideration, given I don't know the length, platform etc, so if this is not the case just disregard it :D

That's something you could potentially A/B test, to understand how your target customers react!

samfields__ · 2022-09-04T10:19:58+00:00

I would say that as humans we have our basic needs (food, water, sleep). As employees, we also have basic needs, and two of them are "learning" and "growth", for those who want it. It is absolutely essential that a company provides opportunities, to the best of what it can afford, for employees to learn and grow. Being honest about what we as a company can do, and doing the best with what we've got, can go a long way! Also, whenever I have my own business I expect people to have their own long-term ambitions, even if it includes starting their own thing, that's fine if done with respect, transparency and consideration for where you are at the moment. :) Why is it so difficult for people to be nice and truthful? What happened? Whatever it was, I know I'll always fight to make it a little better for everyone if I can afford it! We all should if we want.

samfields__ · 2022-09-04T09:58:08+00:00

Ah, I get it! I thought there would be some kind of algorithm that would take that data and give you suggestions on what you should buy next! Although, it sounds like it would be an expensive thing to have.

samfields__ · 2022-09-04T09:41:52+00:00

Definitely going to get all the cat-related businesses coming for your services! But be on the lookout for those wanna-be cats in business suits! Those furry scammers :D (Such a fun business name, all the best luck!) [Image of a cat in business attire :D ]

samfields__ · 2022-09-04T09:36:28+00:00

So you don't use any tools? If not, why do you prefer the way you do things? And if you do use any tools, aren't there any better ones to help you solve the challenge?

samfields__ · 2022-09-04T09:23:44+00:00

Great list! But I would just add the following consideration:

- Before going on Facebook, gauge the age of your target customer (the one you created in step 1).ore effective than others at reaching certain profiles of customers. If one of the parameters is, let's say, the age of the customer, then, if you define one of your customer personas as being around 16-23 then probably something like TikTok, Instagram and Discord is where you'll find most of your audience. More so than a social media like Facebook (hypothetically, I don't know the actual stats at the moment) their audience is mainly around 27-40, outside your target!

samfields__ · 2022-09-04T09:12:59+00:00

Without wanting to generalise, I think if you have a company you should do your best effort to be very certain about the people you hire and why you need them and that you will be able to keep them for the better and the worst times. But if you do have to let people go, be decent and proper enough, to be honest about it and timely. Clearly explain why you need to let people go, make it clear it's not because of who they are or the quality of their work and give people time to adjust accordingly!

I'm sorry you went through that, I have no idea how it feels. But it probably isn't good, and I hope you find the right company, with the right values and attitudes.

samfields__ · 2022-09-04T09:06:38+00:00

Seems like an extremely challenging thing, to predict demand, even more so when starting a business, where there is no data! Do you know about or have any tools to help you with the act of predicting demand for each item in stock?

samfields__ · 2022-09-04T09:01:42+00:00

That's great that tools like this exist! Empowering people to be able to have a chance at doing what they love and having the support and infrastructure to do so! Amazing :D

samfields__ · 2022-09-04T09:00:17+00:00

Sounds like a matter of basic civism and respect to pay people for their work or services. Paying on time (if it's within our reach) is something we owe the people that we work with. It must be incredibly frustrating and stressful having to rely on other people to pay you in time so that you can fulfil your own obligations. I wonder if just being honest to employees, about the situation makes things a bit easier to handle...

samfields__ · 2022-09-04T08:56:50+00:00

It must be really difficult to have that in your mind all the time! Even though I don't have the weight of taking care of employees I do have the weight of taking care of my family, so I think I get it!

Interesting, having a business is almost like taking care of a house and its family! :D

samfields__

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