Just do it
The word I hate most in business
One word is so toxic it will stop you from improving your business. In fact, I hate this word so much I banned my old team from saying it.
(I had less success trying to ban the managing director from saying it, but I still made same the point to him that I’m about to make to you)
The word: ‘just’
Doesn’t look too scary, does it? Let me explain why it could be the blocker to you creating a truly great business.
The first problem is that it rolls off the tongue so easily.
“Just charge more”
“Just ask for a retainer”
No harm done, right? After all, you’re just encouraging your team to do what’s best. And nobody can argue with a higher fee or a retainer.
Well let’s look at the evidence. Exhibit A: 98.5% of recruitment is still contingent. So it turns out that simply telling someone to change the way they do things rarely works.
In fact, telling a consultant to just do something risks ignoring what has been holding them back from doing great things.
And the bad news is that there are plenty of reasons that a consultant might not change their behaviour, even if the outcome should be much better for them.
Here are a few of those reasons off the top of my head: the consultant could be scared of damaging a client relationship they’ve spent years building; they don’t want to learn a new way of doing their job; there might be more admin involved; their bonus might be affected; they want someone else to go first; they don’t want to look stupid in front of a colleague; they’re naturally risk averse; they want more marketing documents to help them sell it; they don’t want their client to say no; they don’t really understand the new approach.
The list, as they say, goes on.
If you want to make a real change to your business, you need to dig deep into these reasons and find a way to tackle them.
Yes, it’s hard work. But without it, it’s unlikely that your consultants are just going to transform their behaviour and the fortunes of your business.
You may be thinking that you don’t have time to do this hard work. And that’s a valid point. But hoping for a shortcut by telling your team to “Just do it” isn’t going to get you anywhere.
The good news is that there are people who can help you to make a big change happen. They’ve been there before. They’ve seen what works, and what doesn’t.
If you’re looking to transform the way you price your recruitment services, that person is me. I’ve been there, done that - and you can benefit from my experience.
So if you want to make a big impact with your pricing in 2023… just reply to this email and we can set up a consultation to set out what you can achieve, and how.
Jon
P.S. You may be thinking about the benefits of JFDI (‘just ******* do it’) as a business mantra.
There’s definitely value in getting on with something, and JFDI can be a great way to stop yourself from overthinking something.
But when you are asking your team to make a change, you need to know how they’re going to react. Simply telling them to do something quickly doesn’t make it more likely to happen if you haven’t thought about how they will react (or not).
So if you want to make a big impact with your pricing in 2023… just reply to this email and we can set up a consultation to set out what you can achieve, and how.