The risks of copy-and-paste strategy

If everyone else is doing something, ask why

A friend in another industry asked me recently if her prices should end in a 7 “because everyone else’s does”.

Now there is some evidence that prices ending in a 7 can be more effective, but my answer was make sure you understand why you’re doing something.

Do you post on job boards just because everyone else does?

Pay bonuses just because everyone else does? Post on LinkedIn? Work with a business coach?

These are all good things to do, but you only get the most from them if you know why you’re doing them. Once you know the reason for doing something, you know what you can expect to achieve from it… which means you can track it, report on it, and evaluate whether it works for you.

It’s the same with pricing. 

I see recruitment owners creating tiered services (a good thing!) but not knowing why… which means they miss the opportunity to build something really effective.

What’s more, because these recruitment owners are only copying what everyone else does, they aren’t sure what to expect from it. And as they’ve missed a few opportunities and don’t know what they’re aiming for, they are likely to give up on their new approach because it’s not working (not that they defined what ‘working’ would look like).

Sadly these recruitment owners have missed out on the chance to change how they talk about value and service with their clients. This means they’re less likely to get paid more for the work they do, or get paid up front for their services.

Perhaps more painfully, it also shows their team and their clients that they tried something new, and then gave up on it. 

If any of what I’ve just written resonates with you, I don’t want you to feel bad about it because it’s not your fault. You don’t know what you don’t know and this is why it’s so powerful to talk to an expert to help you get a big change right first time. 

So if you want to talk about putting your services in context, simply reply to this email and we can arrange a consultation session to discuss where you are and what you could achieve.

Jon

PS. When I worked in a big recruitment agency, the joint challenges of “we need to do what everyone else is doing” and “the last idea didn’t work so why should we try this time?” put us at real risk of constantly chasing our tail and not liking what we found.

I spent years working out how to combat these issues, sometimes by following best practice approaches learned from the best advisors, and sometimes through bloody-minded trial and error (often lots of errors!). 

I enjoy sharing what I discovered with the recruitment leaders I work with, so they don’t have to go through the same pain I did.

So if you want to talk about putting your services in context, simply reply to this email and we can arrange a consultation session to discuss where you are and what you could achieve.