Push up the price

I attended a seminar by Karin Klerfeldt the other day. She talked about taking proper charge and learning the business process and gave these valuable tips.

-Can we raise the price? she asked and answered her own question.

-Yes, a general conclusion is that you can raise the price about 20% - if they can sell! So how is it done?

·      Make a beneficial offer

·      There needs to be a market for you offer

·      Sell!

Some will think that it's too expensive, while others know you and your skills and are willing to pay. There are lots of different pricing strategies, but the most important questions you have to ask yourself are "how much do I want" and "how much do I want to earn." Write it down!

Either you can sell on high volume at a low price or on lower volume at a higher price, but you cannot do both. To stand out, you can not be somewhere in the middle. Entrepreneurs who dare to push up their prices will be tomorrow's winners. As an entrepreneur it is easy to get stuck in a low-price trap, especially if you shoot from the hip when they set prices and do not dare to raise the prices for fear of losing the customer.

It should be easy to sell and easy to buy:

·      Make a price list

·      Put together a package solution

·      Get yourself some business confidence

Forget the cold leads! When you get an idea for a potential business:

·      Schedule a customer visits with someone who might benefit from your idea

·      Make a sketch of your offer

·      Ask Questions

o   Is this the right person for the decision and who sits on the budget?

o   Is there room in the budget?

o   What is the time frame?

Follow-up with a tactics email within 24 hours (I’m pleased to hear that you feel we can do this together... I was thinking about what you said about...). Then:

·      Visit your customer

·      Present your offer

·      Go for closure

Follow up with an order confirmations immediately after your visit. This should contain a summary of what has been determined.

·     Invoice 

The motivating leader

It is asked a lot of today's leaders: they need to have subject knowledge, be able to manage collaborations and work relations, be strong in action and able to manage changes. In addition, they should be coaching and motivating in their leaderships. But, what is it that drives a person? How do you get an employee to perform. A small business is not always able to attract employees with so-called external driving forces such as fine educations, high salaries and exciting career opportunities. So, how do you motivate your staff long term? How do you access a person's internal driving forces?
Today I attended a seminar by Richard Rejsjö. He believes that one should begin by asking "if you could do what ever you want, what would you do". Perhaps the answer would be "then I'd be a writer." Then he suggests you ask the question "why" three times to get to the core. The answers might be "because it's free," "because I can work from home" and “then I would not feel the stress of picking up or leaving my children at daycare at a certain time point". For this employee maybe flexible working hours could be the solution. For another employee perhaps responsibility is the key driving force. The solution for that person can be an own area of responsibility.
However, what do you do if an employee has no motivation at all and underachieve? To begin with, you have to analyze if the situation is temporary and if so, if you can help and assist the employee for a period. If the situation is of a more constant nature, perhaps you should look over the employee's duties in whole. Perhaps there are other tasks at the company that would fit better. Maybe there is more suitable work at another company. Punishment has never proved successful as a driveing force. Instead, it is important to highlight the positive features of the employee. Important is also as a leaders to lead by example.