He was doing what he loved and hating every minute of it

I got a lot of comments about this when I sent it out to my list, so if you haven´t seen it, here it is:

Maybe you sometimes think I’m talking piffle, but are too polite to say so.

Thank goodness I do get it right every now and then.

This is an unedited comment from a reader on what I sent you yesterday:

“You make excellent points in this email, and I have experienced this myself in my own business.

If you don’t mind I would like to share my own personal story.

I started out as a “discount” provider and it was miserable. I attracted the worst possible customers and the more I gave the more they wanted, but at no extra cost to them mind you.

My customer satisfaction rate was abysmal, my job satisfaction was non existent… along with my profits.

I was doing what I loved and hating every minute of it.

Finally I said enough’s enough. I raised my prices by 500% and established very clearly I compete on quality and nothing else.

I lost 90% of my customers overnight.

But the ones that stayed, and more importantly the new ones that suddenly appeared… attracted by my higher rates like moths to a flame, more than made up for it.

Before I raised my rates I was working 12 hour days 7 days a week for miserable people – impossible to satisfy who viewed not just my service, but myself as a commodity and losing money while I did it.

Now, since I raised my rates I have clients who view me and my service as something special, and feel like they are still getting tremendous value.

I work just 7-8 hours a day, 5 days a week (and am working hard to bring that down to just 5 hours a day 4 days a week) and the last 4 months have been the most profitable in the history of my company. In fact the last 3 months my company has earned more than it did in the 18 months previous to the price hike!

Thanks Drayton for all the wonderful insights – Ash Goodman.”

Well if you´d like some more insights from me and people who are full of practical ideas, just go here.

 

Best,
Drayton

About the Author

In 2003, the Chartered Institute of Marketing named Drayton one of 50 living individuals who have shaped today’s marketing.

He has worked in 55 countries with many of the world’s greatest brands. These include American Express, Audi, Bentley, British Airways, Cisco, Columbia Business School, Deutsche Post, Ford, IBM, McKinsey, Mercedes, Microsoft, Nestle, Philips, Procter & Gamble, Toyota, Unilever, Visa and Volkswagen.

Drayton has helped sell everything from Airbus planes to Peppa Pig. His book, Commonsense Direct and Digital Marketing, out in 17 languages, has been the UK’s best seller on the subject every year since 1982. He has also run his own businesses in the U.K., Portugal and Malaysia.

He was a main board member of the Ogilvy Group, a founding member of the Superbrands Organisation, one of the first eight Honorary Fellows of the Institute of Direct Marketing and one of the first three people named to the Hall of Fame of the Direct Marketing Association of India. He has also been given Lifetime Achievement Awards by the Caples Organisation in New York and Early To Rise in Florida.

1 Comments

  1. I know from personal experience I've bought things costing more just because I figure it MUST be better because it costs more.

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