Elevate Service Offerings Beyond Price Competition
TL;DR
- To avoid commoditization, businesses must transition from selling a commodity to offering a "great offer" that competes on value, not price, enabling significantly higher pricing and preventing burnout.
- Focusing on attracting clients who can afford higher prices or helping existing clients increase their revenue is more sustainable than simply acquiring more low-paying leads.
- The "artist" or "technician" path prioritizes skill and craft, while the "businessman" path focuses on scaling through systems and delegation, requiring different skill sets.
- Investing in education is crucial for business growth, but the true measure of its success is the skills acquired and their application to improve business outcomes.
- To de-commoditize an offering, businesses should bundle services, create unique experiences, and add value beyond the core product, justifying premium pricing.
- The ultimate goal is to build a business with "sticky customers" through an exceptional model or by charging premium prices for specialized services, leading to sustainable profitability.
- Acquiring existing businesses (M&A) can be a more efficient growth strategy than building from scratch, especially in industries where businesses are readily available for acquisition.
Deep Dive
The core challenge for service professionals entering business consulting is that their own operational experience, while valuable, can limit their perceived authority and pricing power. To overcome this, they must first elevate their own business by creating a "grand slam offer" that commands significantly higher prices, thereby building the credibility and experience needed to effectively coach others. This transition from technician to businessman requires a strategic shift from delivering a commodity service to offering a premium, value-driven experience.
The immediate implication of this shift is the necessity to de-commoditize the service offering. For a fishing guide, this means moving beyond simply providing a fishing trip to crafting an entire experience, such as bundling multiple sessions, offering catered meals, or even providing a chef to prepare the catch. By adding these value-added components, the service becomes unique and less susceptible to price comparisons, allowing for a significant price increase. This strategy not only increases the consultant's own revenue and confidence but also provides a tangible model of success that can be effectively taught to clients. If the consultant can help their clients surpass their own revenue numbers, it validates their expertise and justifies higher consulting fees.
Ultimately, the path to charging premium prices and commanding respect as a consultant lies in demonstrating superior value. This is achieved by first refining one's own business model to offer a highly desirable, high-ticket product or a deeply sticky recurring service. Once this is established, the consultant can then confidently guide others to achieve similar results, attracting clients who are willing to invest in significant growth rather than just survival. The market efficiently prices commoditized services at the point of burnout; to thrive, one must create an offer that is so valuable it transcends price competition.
Action Items
- Define "grand slam offer": Create a framework for identifying 3-5 unique value propositions beyond commoditized services.
- Develop tiered service packages: Design at least two distinct service levels (e.g., "ultra high ticket" and "recurring model") to cater to different client needs and price points.
- Quantify customer stickiness: Measure the retention rate of existing clients and identify 2-3 key factors contributing to their loyalty.
- Analyze client revenue potential: For 5-10 existing clients, project their potential revenue increase by implementing a more valuable offer.
- Build a "how-to" guide: Document the process for creating a non-commoditized offer, including 3-5 examples of successful value-added services.
Key Quotes
"The hard way is the only way dude it's the only way how long did it take you to learn to be a chiropractor seven and a half years right and business isn't any different if anything there's more stuff true i'm only two years in so i'm waiting for that third year to five yeah i promise you i promise i'll promise you this and i hope we have a great callback so i'll see if we could put a note a note on this i promise you that when you're five years in if you keep at it this is the big caveat if you keep at it you'll grow if that's what you want if you keep at it all the money i had from all my gyms went to zero after five years so like the only thing is the outcome of this is your skills that's all and you're used to investing in education so i don't think there's anything wrong with that but with regards to what like all we have to do for your business though like like let me zoom all the way out for like how do you make this thing successful the the end state of what this looks like for you is that you nail your individual model with a way to have very sticky customers option one or option two you find a way to charge as much as humanly possible i've really rarely seen chiropractors who succeed in any other way they either have a very very good recurring model that people don't stop or they charge five ten thousand dollars for more specialized you know neuropathy blah blah blah you know that kind of stuff and they sub specialize in the things that people are willing to pay a ton of money for and they sell you know year long service packages with supplements and things like that so those are the it's like either ultra high ticket or you build something that has really high stick once you nail that model then like i'm telling you the skills that you're gonna have to learn that's thing one thing two is and in learning that you'll have to learn how to generate leads and sell them right after you've done that part then you're gonna have to learn the game of attracting talent and you'll probably have to give up call it 10 ish maybe 20 of the single location to get another chiropractor in there who's motivated enough to continue to work as hard as you will to make sure that the service quality is high and then at that point you will ascend into the m a game which is either and i would recommend given the nature of the business that you're in i would probably go via the m a route rather than build so i'd rather just buy just buy it's so easy to find chiropractors that are you know that will sell their businesses for basically zero that it's easier to just retrofit them and then that would be once you're in the game game but that might take five to seven years and that's okay"
Alex Hormozi emphasizes that mastering a business, much like learning a profession, requires time and dedication, drawing a parallel between the seven and a half years to become a chiropractor and the ongoing learning in business. He suggests that the "hard way" is often the most effective path to skill development. Hormozi also outlines two primary success models for chiropractors: either developing a highly recurring client base or specializing in high-ticket services.
"The hard way is the only way dude it's the only way how long did it take you to learn to be a chiropractor seven and a half years right and business isn't any different if anything there's more stuff true i'm only two years in so i'm waiting for that third year to five yeah i promise you i promise i'll promise you this and i hope we have a great callback so i'll see if we could put a note a note on this i promise you that when you're five years in if you keep at it this is the big caveat if you keep at it you'll grow if that's what you want if you keep at it all the money i had from all my gyms went to zero after five years so like the only thing is the outcome of this is your skills that's all and you're used to investing in education so i don't think there's anything wrong with that but with regards to what like all we have to do for your business though like like let me zoom all the way out for like how do you make this thing successful the the end state of what this looks like for you is that you nail your individual model with a way to have very sticky customers option one or option two you find a way to charge as much as humanly possible i've really rarely seen chiropractors who succeed in any other way they either have a very very good recurring model that people don't stop or they charge five ten thousand dollars for more specialized you know neuropathy blah blah blah you know that kind of stuff and they sub specialize in the things that people are willing to pay a ton of money for and they sell you know year long service packages with supplements and things like that so those are the it's like either ultra high ticket or you build something that has really high stick once you nail that model then like i'm telling you the skills that you're gonna have to learn that's thing one thing two is and in learning that you'll have to learn how to generate leads and sell them right after you've done that part then you're gonna have to learn the game of attracting talent and you'll probably have to give up call it 10 ish maybe 20 of the single location to get another chiropractor in there who's motivated enough to continue to work as hard as you will to make sure that the service quality is high and then at that point you will ascend into the m a game which is either and i would recommend given the nature of the business that you're in i would probably go via the m a game which is either and i would recommend given the nature of the business that you're in i would probably go via the m a route rather than build so i'd rather just buy just buy it's so easy to find chiropractors that are you know that will sell their businesses for basically zero that it's easier to just retrofit them and then that would be once you're in the game game but that might take five to seven years and that's okay"
Alex Hormozi stresses that business success, like professional mastery, is a journey that requires sustained effort and learning, comparing it to the years of training for a chiropractor. He highlights that the outcome of this persistent effort is the development of valuable skills. Hormozi also outlines two primary strategies for success in service-based businesses: either creating a model with highly loyal, recurring customers or focusing on high-value, specialized services.
"The only thing is the outcome of this is your skills that's all and you're used to investing in education so i don't think there's anything wrong with that but with regards to what like all we have to do for your business though like like let me zoom all the way out for like how do you make this thing successful the the end
Resources
External Resources
People
- Alex Hormozi - Host of "The Game with Alex Hormozi" podcast, author, and entrepreneur.
- Dr. Sanner Dezerich - Chiropractor seeking business advice.
Podcasts & Audio
- The Game with Alex Hormozi - Podcast featuring discussions on business growth, customer acquisition, and entrepreneurship.
Other Resources
- Offers - A concept discussed in relation to commoditized versus value-based offerings in business.