What Makes You Worth It, Not Cheap
People become so fixated on price, the price of gasoline, the price of the combo meal, and the price of your data connection. The pursuit of cheap is often a slippery slope. What makes you worth it?
Looking for Cheap
Unfortunately, some people don’t care about better, they care more about cheap. This lasts for a while, until they discover that cheap is more expensive.
I bought it on eBay, it was NOS (new old stock) but now I’ve realized it is used. It broke the first time I used it.
I grabbed the lowest priced coffee for our coffee maker. We have clients coming in today. It tastes terrible.
The repair shop gave me choices on a new battery for my car. I picked the cheapest one, now my car won’t start, the battery is dead.
So many frustrated people, the shortcut often doesn’t get you there faster and the lower price will often cost you more.
People and Organizations
This is true with nearly everything, and true with both people and organizations.
They go a little cheaper on their marketing or advertising budget. Sales haven’t been the same since. In fact, they are now worse.
Employees need training so they make it mandatory that everyone watches the video. Employees learn something new, but fail to understand how to apply the knowledge. There wasn’t an expert available to answer the tough questions. Now you have attorney fees and employees to replace.
They need a warm body to do some work, so they find the employee who will work for less. They ship the wrong product, provide poor service, and the organization’s reputation is changed forever.
Good Choices
As people, we have a choice. There are choices made and consequences of actions in every one of these examples. Is cheap worth it?
Make a conscious choice to not be cheaper, but to be worth it. Whatever you are selling, standing behind, or building a reputation on, don’t be cheap, be worth it.
Worth It
Do the hard work, work longer to make it better, stay late, come in early, provide reliability, be trusted, learn more, have some fun, and most of all, care.
The smartest people and organizations, the ones that really matter, they will notice. Everyone else is only interested in cheap.
It is a slippery slope. Be worth it instead.
– DEG
Dennis E. Gilbert is a business consultant, speaker (CSPTM), and corporate trainer that specializes in helping businesses and individuals accelerate their leadership, their team, and their success. He is a five-time author and some of his work includes, #CustServ The Customer Service Culture, and Forgotten Respect, Navigating A Multigenerational Workforce. Reach him through his website at Dennis-Gilbert.com or by calling +1 646.546.5553.
