We’ve all heard the phrase, “You get what you pay for,” right? And for the most part, this phrase is true. It comes back to haunt us when we’ve made a bad purchase- sending us into a spiral of buyer’s remorse (or at least a fit of grumblings).
I was reminded of the “you get what you pay for” principle last month when I purchased dishwasher detergent. Like my mom, I have been a Cascade user for years, but I had a coupon for a cheaper product, so I picked it up – not really thinking about it.
Over the course of the next few weeks, I noticed a white, gritty film on my dishes. The dishes appeared to be coming out of the dishwasher dirtier than when I’d put them in. It was actually quite gross, and I ended up doing most of the dishes (again) by hand. My husband and I started to assume that our dishwasher was dying.
We dreaded the thought of forking over the money right now for a new dishwasher; it just wasn’t in the plan. So before we went shopping for a new appliance, we decided to go back to the tried-n-true brand, Cascade. It is more expense than the other stuff, and I didn’t have a coupon, but we needed to try this alternative first. And guess what? It worked! No more lipstick marks on my coffee mugs or crusty, caked-on mysterious “things” on my plates. My glasses now look and feel clean. All is right again.
Trying a cheaper product was a small error and minor inconvenience that only cost us a few dollars.
But business is different. Business purchases – whether products or services – cost much more. And in this economy, you may be tempted to cut corners. Perhaps you used to outsource the development of your newsletter (print or electronic), and now you’ve internalized the process.
I ask you: Is that move really saving you money … long term? Think about it and ask these questions:
- How much is your time worth? How much time are you spending on marketing these days? It takes time to write, edit, design and distribute your newsletter? Calculate those hours with your hourly rate and determine if this really makes sense.
- Are you now writing your copy to include keywords (aka triggers) to truly get your marketing message out there? Or are you simply slapping a few points together and calling your newsletter “good enough”?
- Is your newsletter being edited, or is it being distributed with spelling and grammatical errors?
- How does the newsletter design look? And how frustrated are you (or your staff) in laying out the newsletter and making sure it all fits?
- Is your newsletter being printed by your trusted printer? Or did you decide to turn to the cheapest printer or just run color copies at the local office supply store (or worse, on your desktop printer!)?
I can’t make this stuff up. These are all “solutions” I’ve heard over the last few months as a response to the economy.
Although the economy is recovering, but it is also still tough; I get that. But in this tough economy, you also need to consider that this probably isn’t the image you want to portray to your potential customers. You don’t want them to think that you are cheap, unpolished, and unprofessional, do you?
You may think you are saving money by no longer outsourcing, but even if the frustration of extra hours in completing the task doesn’t get to you, you may find that long term, your new image may not pay dividends.
Remember, skimping on your image will only make your potential customers think twice about turning to you when they are ready to buy.
Tess Wittler Writing Services • Giving Your Visions A Voice
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