“Last Chance,” read the 12/3 email. It was from a publication selling ad space for a directory. I took notice of this email because I don’t think directories, listings and product guides hold much value for the end user. They often miss key players, and once the revenue is booked, they aren’t kept up to date. If you want to know who’s worth looking at in a particular space, don’t focus on what companies are selling, but what your colleagues are actually using.
I knew I’d seen this particular call to action before, and wanted to see how many times. Promotion frequency is a balance every organization on the planet deals with. What is the right equation? How much promotion is too little, how much too much? When does another call to arms do more harm to an electronic subscription list than good to the bottom line?
So I did a quick search and found that two other emails for this particular promotion had been sent, one on Oct. 15 and one on Oct. 31. Now, three emails promoting one offering is not a big deal, but what is a big deal is the identical line that appeared at the bottom of all three.
“Ad space closes this week!”
I forwarded it to Nancy and Kate with these comments:
“I don’t know who these folks think they are fooling. They just look foolish. Let’s promise ourselves never to do something like this. No matter how sneaky you think you are being, someone notices everything.”
Yes, we want to be the kind of organization that is fundamentally honest. But while it is simply “good” to be honest, it is also the most efficient way to operate, and I am obsessive about efficiency. When Nancy came on board in January, we reviewed all our pricing with an eye to establishing what we call “firm and fair” pricing. She’s been in the business for almost 20 years at a number of publications, so was easily able to see where we were in relation to other offerings on the market.
“Let’s come up with prices you think are very fair, and that’s that,” I said.
And so we did, and we have never negotiated since. And why? Because negotiating is perhaps the most inefficient business process ever devised. Can you imagine doing it at the supermarket?
“Ok, now let’s talk about this here can o’tuna. It’s got a little dent, so you ain’t getting’ askin’ price for that.” (Sorry for the accent, but I’m reading “The Grapes of Wrath”)
Now let’s say we all agree that firm and fair pricing is good — what does it take to make it a reality? The most important criteria is trust, for nobody will accept your firm and fair prices if they feel you’ll negotiate with the next guy. For my part, I don’t care so much about getting a great deal, but I sure don’t want the next guy to get a better one than I did just because he demanded it.
And remember — honesty can’t just pop up in certain areas of your organization and be missing from others. You’re either going to tell the truth, all the time, or not. Your either going to believe your potential customers are too smart to be fooled, or you’ll keep trying to pull one over on them.
I just know that the best businesses don’t do this. They don’t create false deadlines, and they don’t make up phantom customers who are “really considering buying what you’re looking at, so you’d better move fast.”
Whenever I hear Nancy talk about what’s good for customers (I especially like it when I hear her refer to them as “her customers”), rather than just what’s good for us, I get excited. It feels like a critical ingredient of success is there; in that tone, in those words. Substitute the words clinicians, employees or patients for “customers” and you get the message.
Servers and networks constitute a technology infrastructure, and today’s healthcare organizations can only survive with strong ones in place. But every organization, every person, needs a sound philosophical infrastructure based on truth in advertising (and everything else).
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