The Chinese Proverb That Could Kill Your Business
“Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for life.” ~Chinese Proverb*
Yeah ok, I get it. The meaning of this quote is fairly obvious (that we should favor work over being hand something) and for the most part I agree with it. When it comes to me and you. Self-reliance is an admirable trait and an important one to boot. Who can argue with that?
Well, let me take a stab at it. When it comes to your customers and prospects I believe you should re-think this whole concept of “teaching them to fish.” There’s no doubt that the Do-It-Yourself market is large for many industries and can be very lucrative, especially within particular niches.
But I would argue that the advantages of simply giving them the fish (i.e. whatever you are selling) are far greater than teaching them how to do it. Let’s take a look at just a couple of those advantages…
It’s Easier to Sell Them More
At some point they are going to run out of fish and need more. Assuming they like what you gave them they are going to come back to you for what they need. So the obvious first advantage is that as long as people hate fishing you are going to be in business. Of course it isn’t always that easy and you have to do a number of things to differentiate yourself, attract customers, and so on, but doing the “thing” for your customers is the easiest way to build a loyal base of repeat buyers.
Price Elasticity
When you are looking at the range between the Do-it-Yourself market and the Do-it-for-Me market you will find a huge price discrepancy between the two extremes. Case in point, if you go buy a fishing pole for $30, some bait, and go sit on the bank of a river or lake you can probably (eventually) catch some fish all by yourself. And if you amortize that cost over a bunch of fish you can get the costs of catching those fish into the pennies per fish or less (not counting your time of course).
If you go to an extremely upscale restaurant that features a famous chef that prepares the fish in some exotic way you could get into hundreds of dollars for that very same fish. So the difference in price varies greatly on who is doing the work and what kind of work is being done.
So if you want to move up the income ladder then you need a way to add “done-for-you” components to your business. But what if you just sell a product or basic service that can’t really already be done for them or is already done for them? No problem. I’m going to give you four simple areas where you can add a “done-for-you” component to your business.
Research and Information
When a person begins to look for a solution to his problem (i.e. he’s hungry and wants some fish) he normally begins by doing some research and gathering information. The problem with this approach is that most people don’t really know what they are looking for and the information they need is scattered all over the place (read: internet).
So one of the things you can do for them is to assemble all the information they’ll need to make a decision in an easy-to-understand format. But you need to do so in a way that shows them that this is all the research they are going to need to do. A big company that has been doing that well is Progressive. They will not only give you their quote for your auto insurance but also 4-5 additional quotes from their competitors.
You may think it risky to do so, and perhaps you’re right, but even though they are giving out competitors’ quotes they are also preventing the prospect from going out and gathering this information themselves, thus allowing them to control the information they are getting about those quotes.
Assembly of Product
If you own a furniture store or sell other products where assembly is required this may be a chance for you to create an up-sell opportunity by offering to do the assembly for the person. Even Home Depot is getting into this business. They offer workshops and seminars on how to say, remodel a bathroom but also offer the option of having a certified, bonded, licensed contractor come and do it for you. And I’m betting they get a lot of takers.
Bundling of Additional Services
Let’s say you run a nice hotel or bed and breakfast. And you want to attract local people to stay in your place instead of just relying on out-of-towners. Well one way you could do so and add a do-it-for-them service is to help them arrange an evening out with their significant other by putting together a package of additional services such limo pick-up and drop-off, reservations at their favorite restaurant, flower delivery, etc.
The restaurant owner, the florist, and the limo service could all do the same thing with their clients as well. What can you bundle together that would go with your product or service that you can do for your prospects?
Means of Payment
If you sell expensive items that require financing or credit terms then this is another area you can do your prospects a favor. Establishing relationships with financiers, credit companies, or other financing options and then doing all the heavy lifting for your prospects is a great way to get an often tedious task mostly complete for them.
These are just a few ideas for you to get started with. You will probably think of more that are specific to your business if you will just take the time to analyze where you can do things for your prospects and customers.
If you think about what we’ve talked about here you’ll notice that these are also ways of differentiating your company from your competitors. Especially if the things you are doing are drastically different from what everyone else is doing. So keep in mind to look for ways that defy your industry’s norms when crafting done-for-you solutions for your market.
*incidentally there is some argument that the origin of this quote is actually Chinese. Britons for example, believe it originated with one of their writers back in the 1700s. But since I saw this mounted on a plaque in a Chinese restaurant it has to be authentic.