Cheap Quality Fast
A friend of mine sent me to this instagram post. Knowing full well I’d be highly appreciative of seeing in action the age-old buyer educating wisdom, price quality service – you can only ever choose two.
It appears to emanate from an artificial lawn provider from near San Francisco.
Hats off for a winning piece of solution selling.
Important notes emerge.
This is a conversation we tend to need to have with a frustratingly large number of prospects. Sad to say, there remains even today too many an exec who expects their demand for the finest, polished gold at the price of silver tin can be met the instant they click their fingers without any notice whatsoever.
So this encircling task can be readily added to your list of interaction routines.
Clean page of your notebook. Fresh flipchart sheet. Virgin whiteboard. Draw the framework then pass over the pen.
I am also intrigued as to the alteration of the traditional labels. Switching in Cheap and Fast are fine, but they do skew what flows next. Reducing the chance to address their scales too perhaps.
Also, why only Quality remains? Shouldn’t this example see this swap to say, Awesome? Or its non-Californian equivalent.
Then there’s the issue of speed. Whilst Fast is a manifestation of service, there are other aspects of specs as well as response time.
Let’s not also forget to give a glimpse into further evolutions. (I’m not solely referring to the delicious more modern-day trio). At the risk of over-complicating a tool most powerful at its simplest, you can take this further.
Especially useful if you’re greeted with resistance to your (albeit irrefutable) logic.
They can as an alternative (or extra) be asked to mark their spot inside the triangle.
To work, they must still be not allowed to place it smack bang in the centre. Once accepted, then wherever it goes geometry dictates there has to be a 2-to-1 split.
Another way of potentially gently moving towards this, is if you can piggyback on a similar recent procurement.
At which apices would they say that one lay on our triangular model?
Finally, it pays to have your response prepared for when they’ve revealed their preference.
Like the turf scenario, you’ll also have three orphaned values with which to find trade-off.
Make sure you know how you’ll play these cards.
& the accompanying instruction in full;
HOME OWNERS, YOU CAN ONLY PICK 2! [added after initial posting]
Home improvement contractors deal with a lot of people. Most are reasonable. Some are not. They want the highest quality with the least expense and timeline. Next time you get that customer, draw this triangle and tell them they can only circle 2. The 3rd will be highly effected by the 2 they choose. If they circle:
Cheap & Quality = it wont be fast (we will do it in the winter)
Cheap & Fast = quality will be sacrificed
Quality & fast = it will be very expensive