How Much Would YOU Pay for a Burger? Keven Nations

I read this article recently from my friend Kevn Nations and LOVED IT!  I think you will too.

How Much Would YOU Pay for a Burger?

by: Kevin Nations

How much would YOU pay for a Burger? I’ll bet that you’d pay a WHOLE LOT MORE than you think! And the crazy lessons I’m gonna share with you in this story about BURGERS will shift your business FOREVER…

Oh yeah!

Since just about every client I’ve met always thinks they’re gonna be ‘the one’ who can’t raise their prices, I run into resistance around people reaching their Ultimate Value nearly daily. You know- just like some of your fears right now. “But I work with Coaches – or Artists, or prospects in Sheboygan or whatever name you’ve given to defend your decision to be small.”
I can’t think of much more of an “in the box” (ok, bad pun) product than a BURGER!

I mean – really – how much can a Burger really be worth?

When I ask groups about this I usually get something along the lines of five dollars or so. Then lots of eye-rolling… Kevin, you don’t understand, we don’t have anything to do with BURGERS, we sell a high-end line of Consultatively Researched Analytical Practices. (Yea, I bet you do!)

So, the TYPICAL price raising gigs go something like this…

Ensure yours is ORGANIC! (Note to reader – raise the QUALITY)

New price = Eight Bucks

Try selling a triple decker with sixteen toppings and TONS of Fries (Even extra fries like Five Guys)

OK, Twelve Bucks – (Raising the amount of STUFF and Add-Ons – know anyone who does this?)
How about selling our Burgers in a sit-down joint with White Linen napkins and someone to scrape the crumbs off the table-cloth every five minutes with a live Pianist playing Debussy?

Twenty-Five Bucks? (Hmm, fancy Packaging or Exotic Locations for your ‘Soirees’)
I can go ON and ON – and I have live. What usually happens is that- somewhere between fifty and a hundred bucks – all the ‘marketing’ and ‘branding’ ideas stop changing the audience’s mind and we’re at a stand-still on selling this dog-gone Big Ticket Burger!

Or are we… ?
Imagine – your client is IN THE DESERT!

Three days away from food… Knowing he has TWO DAYS without food to Live!

And this BURGER is his Lifeline! What’s the value THEN?

The most comical response I’ve gotten when I’ve posed THIS question about value was yelled out from the back of the room “I’ll pay $1.2 Million for that Burger and I’m a vegetarian!” Now there’s someone who really values their LIFE! Interestingly enough – nobody looked at him like he was crazy! The ‘eye-rolling’ wasn’t going on anymore!
What does this crazy story have to do with YOUR Service?

Some people are so darn busy piling on condiments, add-ons, improving the ingredients – finding better and better venues from which to peddle their ‘STUFF’ – their TRAININGS, COACHING, BLAH – BLAH – BLAH!!!
That they get stuck in a rut of Value wondering WHAT IS MY STUFF WORTH?
(Not very much when you look through your current cash-flow goggles, huh?)

Howeverrrr… When you begin to understand the PAIN that your market faces – the specific impending doom that they will experience if they don’t get the benefit of YOUR CONTRIBUTION – then you can begin eliminating all that unnecessary talk about your silly burger…

And focus on ‘Freedom from Hunger’!

When I asked the dude who made the $1.2 Million dollar offer for my burger just how important all the Condiments, the Organic Ingredients, the ‘TRIMMINGS’ were to his purchase – he replied – JUST TOSS IT OVER AS IS, I’M STARVING!

I wholeheartedly recommend that you invest significantly in ensuring that you deliver the ABSOLUTE BEST service to your clients. Unfortunately, when you’re focused on solving your prospect’s PAIN, you don’t get to brag about all the ’stuff’ you’re throwing in! (Nope, not even a little bit!)

They’re too starving for the darn BURGER!

Moral of the story is – stop focusing on the C.R.A.P. (short acronym for Consultatively Researched Analytical Practices), diagnose your Prospects PAIN, tell them you can solve it and then SHUT UP!

And THAT, Boys and Girls is how you sell a Burger for a MILLION BUCKS. And – how you can sell your ‘Stuff’ for any price between zero and there… It really is YOUR CHOICE!

© 2009 Kevin Nations www.kevinnations.com