We’ve all heard the expression: “Don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater.” In business, we often see decisions made where the decision-maker fails to consider all factors. I find it interesting when someone approaches us with an idea and after barely getting to the part of what type of sign they’re even considering they take a sharp left turn towards price. Next thing you know we’re haggling over the cost of something that at this point has gotten so far away from the reason we were approached, specifically the most important reason: the need for the sign!
Yes, of course price is important and thank God for it because if we didn’t charge anything for our work I wouldn’t be writing this! So what I like to do is simply ask if we could take PRICE and set it OVER HERE…oh yeah there is going to be a PRICE for the sign you get but let’s not let price get in the way of your need. They are both important factors but we first need to figure out how important the sign will be to your objectives and goals.
Keeping the “baby IN the bathwater” is how I would like to look at it when a customer focuses on price first. If we talk about SANDWICH BOARDS, for example there are some basic details that need to be addressed: LOGO…PHONE NUMBER…WEB SITE, etc. Also understanding what these sandwich boards will be used for. Once we have addressed this we’ve covered the first factor.
It’s then when we move into the second factor: Price. This is where the beads of sweat start to form and that unknown starts to cause some stress because you as the customer may simply not know what a sandwich board costs. Perhaps you’ve seen one and by that you’ve been motivated to think about getting one. Perhaps you can visualize all the benefits of having one but quite often what happens is that thing get lost because of the focus on price.
We have found that first keeping these two FACTORS (need and price) in check, or separate is really the best way to get a successful project outcome. In other words making sure that what you as the customer are thinking about what this sign is going to accomplish for you before you think about price. We believe that regardless, a sign should pay for itself anyway!