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Thursday 7 April 2011

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

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