The BIGG Successs Show
Are You Good, Fast, or Cheap?
6 strategies to beat your competition. Read the show summary at biggsuccess.com.
- Welcome to The Big Success Show. Today we ask, are you good, fast, or cheap? - The Big Success Show with George and Mary Lynn. - Why Mary Lynn? You're getting kind of personal, aren't you? - Oh, you wanna answer? - Well, am I good, faster, cheap? I'll tell you what, I may be cheap, but I'm not easy. - I don't know about that. - Oh, is that right? You know, I heard this years ago and it's about your business, but to some extent it also applies to your personal brand. Here's the thing, there's good, fast, and cheap. You get a pick, too, because you can't deliver all three. - All right, so what you're saying, George, is that you can be good and fast, good and cheap, or fast and cheap. - Hey, can you be good and plenty? That's not an option today. So why can't you be good, fast, and cheap? - Well, I think some people think that you can, but let's cut to the essence. It costs money to be good. It costs money to be fast. If you try to compete on all three, somebody else will come along and only compete on two. Let's say somebody comes along that's good and cheap. They're cheap, can be cheaper, then you're cheap. Does that make sense? - Yeah. - Okay, so the thing is, because they're not trying to be fast, they can be less expensive. So you're only gonna be competitive on two of the factors anyway, in this case, good and fast. - All right, so what we're talking about are three components of value. Good equals quality, fast equals service, and cheap equals price. So there's six strategies we wanna share with you today to help you beat your competition. The first four are defensive strategies designed to ward off that competition. - Number one is this, improve your quality, keep your price constant, and you'll increase value. This is a focus on good, trying to make it better. If you're able to improve your quality and hold your price, you'll gain business. - Number two, improve service, keep the price constant and increase value. This is focusing on the fast and trying to make it faster, but it's not just about fast, it's about all of the things that we think of as customer service, not just speed. So if you can improve your level of service and hold price, you'll get more customers. - And number three is, decrease your price, keep your quality constant, and increase your value. Hey, we all love a deal, right? - I'm in. - Absolutely. If people can get the same quality product for less money, they'll buy it, and your business will grow. - Number four, decrease price, keep your service constant, and increase value, get the same level of service for less money, and more people will buy. - Now, there's a caveat to these four strategies, Marieland, and that is this. You have to make money to stay in business. - You do. - You do, and a lot of people don't realize that, you know, my dad used to say, "Profit's not a four-letter word." - P-R-L-L-I, he's right. - He's genius, dad, but then I finally got it. What he means is, "Profit's not a dirty word," right? You have to have profit. The strategies we've discussed so far are designed to give you a competitive edge, but they'll all cut into your profit margin. - So coming up, the two strategies that will help you make more money. - Today, we're talking about six strategies to beat your competition. So far, we've discussed four. The final two are both compounding strategies. Not only will you get more business, but it will also help you at least maintain your profit margin. - So number five is improve quality, increase your price, and keep the value constant. So your customers are still gonna be happy because they're getting the same value as before. They're paying more now, but they're getting a better product. It's new and improved. - Man, if only I could be new and improved. - It's the total George makeover. - Well, number six is improve your service, increase your price, and hold the value constant. In other words, it's the same as number five, only here you're delivering a higher level of service. - So you have to think about this across your whole business, and it's likely you're gonna use different strategies for different products or services. - Yeah, and a great example of this that we probably have all kind of seen is McDonald's. A few years back, they came out with their dollar menu. That really juiced up sales, but it hurt profit margins, right? But at the same time, they've introduced new products like their iced coffee and now their premium coffee. Those are relatively expensive compared to the rest their menu. You should look at your product and service lines in the same way. - You can get a written summary of today's show at big success.com. And hey, if you like here in George talk about how easy he is, subscribe to the big success show in iTunes. We've got a link to make it real easy, like George. - Oh, thanks very little. No, I said I was cheap. - Oh, that's true. Let's get our big quote for the day. - A big quote today comes from Michael Laboff who said, a satisfied customer is the best business strategy of all. - Create value for your business by delivering what your customers value. - Next time, we'll answer a question from a member of our community about getting started on a project. - And until then, here's to your big success. - The big success show at big success.com. [MUSIC PLAYING]