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What does Value versus Cost Really Mean?

 

I believe what it implies is that a cheap product or service is not a good value.  When I think of Value, I think in terms of how long is this going to last for my money what kind of guarantees do I get, that kind of thing.  I wanna know that if I spend a little more on the things I buy I'm going to get a whole lot more bang for my buck.

This funny bit kinda explains what I mean, I'm chatting with new client about give always for her upcoming convention and as we're going through the book, we hit upon the topic of custom printed key chains and I chuckle.  So she asks me if I think it's a bad idea.  I tell her I think they are a great idea, but it depends how much value she wants.  To which she replied "What do you mean?"  Now mind you, I have this conversation over and over again with clients and I knew what was coming, it seems I have a "speech" and I'm told it's well rehearsed.  I think they are crazy, I'm just passionate in my beliefs and I believe when you speak in fact the logic is pretty hard to deny.

Anyway, when I'm discussing customized key chains with a client, I often use a simple teaching aide to illustrate my point.  Then the client can make an educated decision and choose how much value they want.

Moving on.  I asked her to look at the selection of printable key chains and choose the one she liked. After a moment of looking she chose the cheapest key chain available, a printed rubberish thing that if used in a real life capacity wouldn't last 6 months.  I grab a keychain from my desk and hand it to her and told her they cost $0.75 each with custom printing.  This is a nice but cheap rubber key chain like the one she chose.  I ask her if it were given to her at a trade show what would she ultimately end up doing with it?  I was floored when she admitted she would most likely throw it away and began to laugh.

I then grab another keychain from my desk, a simple but nice cast pewter keychain, one that looked cool and could actually survive everyday use and abuse for decades.  As I hand it to her I tell here I can do something similar for her but they would cost approximately $3.50 each and I ask her again what she would do with a keychain like this.  She conceded it was very nice but had a hard time justifying the expense.  She figured that she would be able to get more of the cheaper key chains for her money, be able to them out to more people and that would be better.  If they lasted a two - three weeks that would be fine.  We make her key chains and deliver them in time for her convention.  That's the last we saw Janet for nearly a year.

Then, guess who pops in out of the blue to order those pewter keychains?  Yep...  Janet's assistant. ( ha ha I bet you thought it was Janet.)  She tells me that Janet had an epiphany on the plane back from a trade show they had just attended.  She tells me that their company sent them as visitors to find new vendors and while there they collected lots of samples and promotional items.  She tells me that when they were going through the literature and items they received Janet threw away several key chains similar to the ones she previously ordered without even thinking about it.  Apparently on the plane Janet realized that the money those vendors spent on those key chains was a waste, which most likely meant that the money she spent on her key chains was wasted as well and she wasn't going to make that mistake again.  She wanted more bang for her buck.

The new agenda was "to create a cool custom keychain that to none would want to throw away."  Which is exactly what we do.

The long story, short.  Janet came in to pick up order instead of her assistant. She said she understood what I was trying to tell her at our first meeting and then proceeded to hand me one of the keychains she got at her convention that she didn't throw away. 

Guess what kind of key chain it was....

The Moral of this Story - Cost is just a number, it what you have to pay.  Value is what its about what it's worth.

 

***  as soon as I can I'll put some photos up here for illustration.

 

 

Published on Dec 28th 2010 - Steve Farrow is the President and CEO of Crazy Native Graphic Arts, Inc. - Douglasville, Georgia.  A Full Service Graphics Company Specializing in Custom Printed T-Shirts, Signs, Logos and Graphic Design.  

For More Information about Signs, Please Visit Us Online at www.CrazyNativeSigns.com

 
 
 
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