Is Your Firm's Pricing Too Low?
I recently had the opportunity to listen to Ron Baker and Ed Kless on their 19th July edition of The Soul Of Enterprise podcast discuss Daniel Langer’s 4E Framework. If you’re not aware of who Langer is, or what the 4E Framework is - and I certainly wasn’t, then all I will say is it's a great primer for evaluating whether or not your firm is pricing too low - and so the subject of this BD Tips Wednesday post!
Langer’s 4E Framework is centered around:
Emotion
Experience
Engagement
Exclusivity
Taking each in turn then:
Emotion
"Emotion" is the ability to create an emotional response. It's the ability to create a “deep connection” with your customers.
In professional services lingo, it's having a “customer-centric culture”.
As Langer states: “Without emotion there is no desirability”. And without desirability, there is no intention to buy.
To create emotion, and thus desirability, you need to share stories that resonate with your clients, create emotions and feelings and allow your clients to feel connected to your firm brand.
Experience
Next up is “experience”.
In professional services lingo, this is what we call the “customer journey” - or the CX - and not your firm's experience.
You need to create a memorable, personalized and tailored experiences to tick this box.
Keep in mind that customers of professional services firms are no longer just buying accesses to your expertise, they want an experience - they want to feel valued.
This is the Disney effect!
Engagement
Engagement is about deep and meaningful connections. It means actively engaging with your customers. It’s about building trust and loyalty.
What it’s not about is sending your customers generic newsletters that are not tailored to their needs. It’s not about generic social media posts that talk about how well you're doing because you've been ranked in an unknown directory or won an award that no one has ever heard of!
What it is about is creating opportunities for your customers to connect with you - to engage with you - around a common issue.
Exclusivity
Importantly “exclusivity” is not about rarity or singularity, it’s much broader than that - it’s about providing an 'exclusive feeling of being valued'.
In professional services lingo, this is “empathy” - understanding the uniqueness of your customer’s problem while also telling them you have done this hundreds of times before so that is why they should trust you!
The 4E Framework effect on your pricing!
In today’s hyper-competitive world, those professional services firms that can tick all four of the 4E Framework boxes are in the box seat to be able to charge a premium for their services!
Further Reading
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