I got an email this morning that asked the following question:

I read your article on Value Proposition and ROI. Your examples deal with physical products. I coach people in so-called ’soft skills’ - presentations, speaking and listening, enhancing imagination. I can detail many positive outcomes but do not know how to quantify the results of such training. Therefore I don’t know how to use the methods you suggest. Can you help me?

Since this is such an important question, I thought I’d post my response here:

I know it sounds unreasonable, but you’ve got to be able to put a number on it. The reason “soft skills” people tend to charge less, and earn less, is because they don’t go through the exercise of pinpointing the value.

If someone becomes a stronger speaker, how much will it impact their speaking fees? And if they don’t charge for speaking, what do they hope to get from that improved skill? What will the downstream effects be? Will they sell more, or perhaps gain support for important ideas or campaigns? Why do they want to be a stronger speaker, anyway? You must have an answer to the question, “why do it?”

At some point, if the “soft skill” doesn’t lead to an increase in productivity, and somehow profits – why are they trying to learn it? Why should the invest?

Let’s take the idea one step further to something as abstract as “enhanced imagination. “ Why should someone pay you for this? While it might seem obvious, you want to make sure what’s obvious to you is explicit for your potential client. The answer the comes to my mind is that enhanced imagination will lead to more effective product development, or stronger sales presentations — something like that. Which in turn will lead to something that either earns income or saves income. But that’s in my mind - what is in theirs?

You may think it is unreasonable - crass even - to try to reduce everything to dollars and cents, but if it doesn’t come down – in some way – to a return on investment, why should a business, or a business person, spend their money with you. If it’s not commercial– it’s not a business. It’s a hobby. An avocation. A pastime. But then you’re in a whole different kind of market, and a completely different selling proposition. Businesses are in business to make money, and if you’re soft skill doesn’t help them do it, they should spend their money on something else. When you can clarify how your services do that, the sky’s the limit.

Today is the day to make Be Unreasonable a best seller.  If you haven’t gotten a copy of my book yet, today would be a great day to do so.  Just hop on over to www.unreasonablepromo.com and sign up for a number of great bonuses along with your book purchase. If you’ve already got a copy, get one - or several - for a friend.

A friend just sent me a link to Clark Mitchell’s review of my book. Totally unreasonable. Thank you, Clark

August 21, 2007

Be Unreasonable

Several weeks ago I told you I would share some thoughts from different books I read over my break this year. One of the best is a book called, “Be Unreasonable” by Paul Lemberg. God used this book to really speak to me and confirm some of the things He was saying. The greatest temptation in our life is to be reasonable or to settle for average. The problem is there is nothing average about our God!

I’ll share some thoughts over the next few days, so here we go:

• Expect the best from your team! As unreasonable as it seems, expect the best from those around you. Expect them to be successful! Count on it. Plan for it. Budget for it. Expecting the best give you the highest liklihood of getting it. Begin with the optimal scenario and truly grasp how to ensure it happens. Expecting the worst has a similar, but opposite effect.
• The great thing about being backed into the corner is the only place to go is forward. Don’t be afraid of the corner! Don’t let the corner defeat you!
• A conservative model produces conservative results! That doesn’t mean not to use wisdom, but wisdom isn’t always reasonable!
• Be afraid. If you’re not a little scared, you’re not doing anything worthwhile. All great ventures contain within them an element of risk and the promise of failure as well as success. If your not at least a little afraid, you’re probably not doing anything that will ever be called great! (Ouch!)
• It is only when things to cease to go well that we are forced to switch gears and look for solutions in unreasonable places. If only we could get ahead of the curve instead.

Man, that last statement puts into words my last year! God has done so much in me, but it has probably been more painful than necessary, the problem is I wouldn’t of switched without some of the pain! God wants to do great things in your life, but it takes risk, faith, failure, pain, prospering, etc. Allow God to use all aspects of life to help you become the person He desires for you to become.

http://clarkmitchell.typepad.com/my_weblog/2007/08/be-unreasonable.html

Just got back from a trip to the Dalmatian coast in Croatia, and while en-route and in-situ, I made a little distinction about lines. Lines of people, that is. In Germany, lines are quite robust. People get on that at the rear, and they maintain their structure - in other words, the people who get on the line first, get off it first. In America, most people respect lines - but those who don’t - the line cheaters - are often the subject of vocal and occasionally martial conflict. In other words, people who cut the line get yelled at and into fights. “Hey buddy - the line starts back there!” In Croatia, I discovered that lines are simply a suggestion. Line form, and some people follow them, while many others ignore the lines completely and simply push to the front.

So this brings up an interesting question - not just about lines but about rules in general. When should you follow them and when not? In Croatia, I was standing in line while all these people started to cut in front. Since no one seemed to react or even care, after applying a little game theory, I jumped the line as well.

When you consider that playing buy the rules may not be in your best interest, you have to evaluate the consequences of breaking them. In every case, one will outweigh the other. It’s not cut-and-dried.

Just saw that Internet Marketing education pioneer Ken McCarthy is doing something I think is unreasonable. Ken pretty much invented the internet marketing how-to seminar. Now, since Ken’s first The System seminar, prices on these confabs has gone from $500 a day to $5,000, but without any significant increase in value. Following Dan Kennedy’s lead, these events have been stuffed with “air” – worthless stuff that make the package seem bigger, but no real increase in the impact of what’s being delivered. McCarthy has kept the value strong. But talk about bucking the trend – not only has Ken kept the value strong, he’s actually lowering the price. See http://www.systemintensive.com/

Anyone who has read Be Unreasonable knows how I feel about price cutting and the best response to it, so I was happy (and surprised) to read McDonald’s founder Ray Kroc felt the same way.  In 1960, one of his Knoxville franchisee was being hammered by a competitor offering five hamburgers for thirty cents. Can you imagine, thirty cents! Even so, the customers still came over to McDonald’s for the fries and shakes. So the competitor hit harder - with a hamburger, milkshake and fries for ten cents.  The reasonable response would have been to cut prices and at least match the other guy’s offer  – following him down the road to pricing ruin. 

Ray’s response? 

“If we can’t do it by offering a better fifteen-cent hamburger, by being better merchandisers, by proving faster service and a cleaner place, then I would rather be broke tomorrow and start all over again in something else.”