Here is a statement a friend of mine posted in LinkedIn recently, “You’re not necessarily paying for my hours. You’re paying for my years of experience. Invest in quality because quick and cheap can be costly in the long run”.
It reminds me of the story of a businessman, his prestige car which, as a result of his clumsiness, had a dint in the side door, and a panel beater. The business man rushed into the panel beater’s early one morning saying he desperately needed his car fixed as he had an important appointment to attend and did not want to give a bad impression when he arrived at his prospective client’s premises.
He asked the panel beater if he could fix it immediately, how long it would take and how much it would cost. The panel beater looked at the car door for a minute, turned to the business man and said ‘yes I can fix it and it will cost you $2,000’.
The business man was taken aback, ‘$2,000?’ he said. ‘Yes’ replied the panel beater. ‘I can fix it now, do you want to proceed or not?’ Looking at his watch, ‘Yes. Go ahead’ he said. Expecting to be waiting for a while the business man sat down in reception where he had a clear view of the panel beater’s workshop.
He watched the panel beater take the inside panel off the damaged door, then pick up a hammer and a pointed metal object. The panel beater then placed the pointed metal object at a spot inside the door and hit it with the hammer. Immediately the door sprang back into its original shape and looked as good as new. The panel beater then replaced the inside panel of the door and within 5 minutes the door was fixed.
The panel beater came over and said ‘You are ready to go. That will be $2,000, thank you.’
The business man looked at the panel beater and said ‘How can what you have done be worth $2,000? It only took you 5 minutes. You are ripping me off.’
knowledge is gold
The panel beater replied ‘it is not the time that you should measure my value on. My value comes from the 25 years of knowledge and experience I have cultivated that allows me to know exactly where to hit the door in the right spot so you car is returned to its original condition in the most effective and efficient manner possible. Now you can get on your way, with plenty of time to spare and go to the meeting in the full knowledge that you and your car will make the right impression. ’
The business man stood still and then took out his credit card, paid $2,000 for the service, thanked the panel beater and left.
Many of us who work in the knowledge industry have had our experience and knowledge trivialised by others who do not understand the depth and breadth we must go to to be able to deliver timely and precise solutions like the panel beater. To offset the issue of speed of solution and value, many consultants will take a few days to get back to a client to make it seems like they have had to put a lot of thought into so they can justify their fees.
It’s ridiculous. Just because it takes one person 5 minutes to sort out something another person would take days or weeks to sort out does not mean that it is worth nothing.
If only people would value expertise and appreciate receiving a fast response just like the panel beater gave the businessman we would save a whole lot more on many levels.
As we know it is all about perception. More power to the panel beater I say and let’s make sure that we stand up for all the work we have put to build up our expertise and wisdom. It is indeed something of real value.
Remember everybody lives by selling something.
Author: Sue Barrett, www.barrett.com.au
Thank you for this blog post Sue. Charging by the hour is the norm in the resources industry, and it is very difficult for small businesses to break out of that paradigm. Having the clarity to be able to express the value they are providing, as the panel beater in your blog post did, is the first step in doing so.