🎯 Work Smart Wednesday - July 24, 2024

We turned a recurring problem into an extra $3k profit per customer, A Stanford Business School case study on lateral thinking, and a quote from Y Combinator

Work Smart Wednesday

👋 Hey there!

Here is your weekly dose of Work Smart Wednesday

In these emails I will share with you 3 things to help you work smarter.

1. 😠➡️🤑 How we turned a recurring problem into an extra $3k profit per customer

Calvin had a problem: his client hadn’t done the work required of them for an event happening at the weekend and Calvin was concerned (and frustrated) that their failures may ruin his ability to deliver on his promises.

In a short conversation together, we uncovered why his client hadn’t held up their side of the bargain and we then built upon that insight to adapt our offer. This offer adaptation has since gone on to help us add $3k profit per customer.

You can watch the 20 minute clip from our session below.

Alternatively, I have also provided a short written overview of the key points:

• Calvin’s client needed to make sure the premises was fit for the event Calvin was going to run for the client. This was clearly communicated and a deadline given.

• Unfortunately, Calvin didn’t assign a consequence for failure. There was no penalty or reward of any kind to incentivise the client to actually do the assigned task. The client (correctly) assumed Calvin would do that task anyway, so why should they bother?

• This kind of situation kept happening with multiple different clients. Calvin regularly had to rush around last minute to fix problems that never should have existed. This was stressful.

• We changed the process slightly to clearly communicate a consequence in the case of clients failing to perform their duties. Outside of this clip, we also discussed how to communicate this change clearly and in a way that keeps clients happy (to help clients see why it is valuable for them).

  • Since implementing, we have seen that clients didn’t mind this change at all and they were actually happy that it was clearly communicated and support was given. People tend to respect being held accountable for things they know they should do.

• We delved deeper into this issue, and realised it made sense to further identify these client responsibilities and include some of them in our offer. We worked on better identifying the problems clients had so we could improve our solution. Calvin had the answers, he just needed to be asked the right questions.

• We split these responsibilities into high profit and low profit potential. Later (not in clip) we also discussed the perceived value of solving each responsibility. Considering responsibilities and profit potential is a valuable exercise for any business to determine whether you want to provide a particular element of the offer. This alone often makes results delivery easier and more profitable.

• We introduced policies to encourage clients to take on the responsibilities that had low profit potential. We created detailed guides to help them do these tasks (guides are low cost to us, high value help for client).

• We incorporated the high profit potential responsibilities into our offer, some as part of the core offer and some as upsells. We modified the process to include a needs assessment and demos for the upsells.

• Not only did this eradicate a stressful recurring problem, clients now do fulfil their responsibilities, but by delving deeper and identifying the problems we created custom solutions that have enhanced our offer. These small tweaks to our offer have added an average $3k extra profit per client in the 4 weeks since then.

It is important to note that Calvin and I have been working together for a while now, and you can see that over time he has developed a good understanding of more complex topics like systems and leveraging collaborations, so we do breeze over some more technical aspects in this call. Nonetheless, it gives you a good idea of what sessions are like and a good insight into solving this particular problem.

⏳ Last Chance ⏳Deadline for bonuses is midnight tonight

As I mentioned in my last email, I am running a limited-time offer. Until the end of July only, you can book a place on my “Profitable Proposal Programme”.

The programme will help you to significantly improve your offer so it becomes much more valuable and much easier to sell. You will have a super clear outline of your offer so you know exactly what is included and exactly how to sell your offer without feeling salesy.

Imagine your clients following up with you, desperate to buy your offer.

You will come away confident that your offer rocks and that people will be excited to buy it. I will even help you launch the new and improved offer.

You get:

• Expert support to create a winning offer

• A complete clarity offer audit. Know EXACTLY what to include and why (worth £197)

• 3 live sessions to work on your offer and launch the new offer (worth £591)

• Asynchronous support to implement and successfully launch (worth £397)

If you buy before 23:59 TONIGHT (Wednesday 24th July), you also get:

• Proposals template library - see other winning proposals (worth £99)

• Warm outreach scripts and sequence - easy launch (worth £199)

• Client onboarding checklist - create a kickass onboarding experience (worth £99)

• The price and mindset masterguide: Know how to raise your prices with confidence both now and in the future (worth £199)

Total value: £1,781

One time price: £597

On top of all this, you get my $5k guarantee. If you don’t start to make an extra $5k profit per month ($60,000 per year, 100x your investment) within 90 days from the work we do together then I will not only give you all of your money back, I will also work with you for free until you are on tracking to make that extra $5k per month.

I do not know when I will run this offer again (if ever!). If you want to create a winning offer so you can decrease your stress and increase your income, reserve your place now here.

I have actually already had some sessions with people who bought this offer after my email last week. Below are two short clips from my session on Monday with Kenny, an automation consultant, including us discussing his offer:

(2 mins)

(2 mins)

If you want to create and launch a winning offer for your service-based business, invest in your place on the Profitable Proposals Programme here now.

2. 🏫 A Stanford Business School case study on lateral thinking

This Stanford business school experiment may completely change how you think about business. I know it shifted my perspective when I first read it years ago.

In 2009, a Stanford business professor named Tina Seelig split her class into groups and issued a challenge:

Each group had $5 and 2 hours to make the highest possible return.

At the end, they'd give a short presentation on their strategy.

Now, let me tell you that the results of this experiment were fascinating. BUT before we move on, I want you to take a second and think: What would you do?

How would you maximise the return in these circumstances?

When you’re ready, here are the results.

Most of the groups followed a basic approach:

• Use the $5 to buy a few items.

• Barter or resell those items.

• Repeat

• Sell final items for (hopefully) more than $5.

These groups made the smallest return on their initial $5.

A few groups ignored the $5. They brainstormed and executed on ways to make the most money in the 2 hours of allotted time:

• Made and sold reservations at hot restaurants.

• Refilled bike tires on campus for $1 each (in fact, halfway through the two-hour period, the team stopped asking for a specific payment and requested donations instead. Their income soared!)

These groups made a better return on their initial $5.

The winning group took an entirely different approach. They had three core realizations:

1. The $5 was nothing more than a distraction.

2. The 2 hours of time was not enough to make an attractive, outsized, return with a mini-business (like selling restaurant reservations or filling bike tires).

3. The most valuable "asset" they had was actually the presentation time in front of a class of Stanford students.

Realizing the value of this hidden asset, they offered the presentation time to companies looking to recruit Stanford students.

They struck a deal to sell the time slot for $650, netting a monstrous return on the $5 of initial capital (130x!) in just two hours.

What are the takeaways from this? How can it impact your business?

The losing groups thought in linear, logical terms and achieved a linear, logical outcome. The winning group thought differently. This can be incredibly hard to do and often requires real training and practice.

The winning group spent most of their time identifying their situation, considering their resources and what would be valuable to potential buyers. They thoroughly analysed their situation and created a unique offer. Ultimately, their offer outcompeted that of their competitors.

Their offer was not only more valuable, it was lower-effort. Why run around buying and selling things when you can simply offer a speaking slot to an interested buyer? This is the power of a winning offer, they are easier to deliver and more valuable.

It takes time to develop lateral thinking like this, but here are three steps to start thinking differently:

• Step 1: Avoid the Distraction

There will always be an "obvious" solution that is simple and clear. Unfortunately, it is also often comparatively ineffective.

In the challenge, the $5 was nothing more than a distraction. It was a trap.

To find the best path, you have to avoid the distraction. Take the time to identify your distractions.

• Step 2: Ask Foundational Questions

Ask and answer questions that expose underlying assumptions and logic.

- What is the root problem you are trying to solve?

- How will success be measured?

- What resources are available to us?

- What are your core assumptions? Why? What evidence do you have?

- How can we test our assumptions quickly and cheaply before fully committing to our strategy?

- What are your solution options? Include options that sound unrealistic. Small changes can make unrealistic options suddenly realistic.

This takes time, but it's an essential exercise when facing a problem with the potential for non-linear rewards.

• Step 3: Select the High Leverage Approach

Slow down and evaluate the options on the table. It pays to take your time to get your offer right.

Select the path most likely to generate the asymmetric risk-adjusted returns.

For me, the story has two key takeaways that apply to every business:

Creative, non-linear, asymmetric thinking generates creative, non-linear, asymmetric outcomes.

Your offer is fundamental to your success. Focus on creating the right offer.

3. 💡 Quote I'm pondering

"Founders often hold too tightly onto solutions and too loosely onto problems. The problem, i.e. the market, is the real opportunity.” - Taken from a lecture on “The real product-market fit” by Y Combinator

What do Airbnb, Stripe, Coinbase, DoorDash, Dropbox, Instacart, Twitch, HumbleBundle, 9GAG, GitLab, Product Hunt, Zapier, and Reddit have in common? They are all Y Combinator companies.

When Y Combinator speaks, it is sensible to listen.

This quote reminds me of something I see in clients all the time - they are often reluctant to adapt their offer and/or their business model to customer needs.

I have experienced this problem myself - another one of my companies, ZeroSmart, was started with the core focus on helping the environment by offering subscriptions for individuals. Within a few months it became apparent that what the market really wanted was two things: a way to buy zero-waste environmentally friendly gifts for individuals, and a way for small businesses to reach their net zero goals (both via subscriptions and one off purchases). We stubbornly stuck to our solution too long, rather than adapting to better solve the problem. This cost us tens if not hundreds of thousands of pounds (£). I learned first-hand to be much more problem focused.

Now, I often help clients go through this exact situation in their business. I help people shortcut the process, to dial in their offer to better solve the problem, and make much more money much more easily and much more quickly.

Is your offer truly optimised to solve the problem?
Or is it a solution that you had originally “guessed” a while back that you’re stubbornly hanging on to?

That's it! I can't wait to hear what you think. What did you find most useful? What do you want more or less of? Reply to this email now and let me know

Also, if you have anything interesting to share, I want to know about it😊

Have a great week,
John


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👋 Want to work together?

When you’re ready, here are 2 ways I can help you:

🔍 Clarity Call - We will discuss your situation and create a step-by-step action plan together so you know exactly what you need to do next for maximum impact

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🆕 This month’s resource for referrals has been updated - you can now earn my template “Easy Offers Summary Table”.

🎁 Receive rewards for referring your friends 🎁

1. 📩 A simple table to outline and improve your offers. This template is not sold anywhere, and is only normally available to those that work with me 1:1. I rotate these templates monthly. This template is only available in July.

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