LEAD MAGAZINE | 2019
LANDI JAC
YOUR
ESSENCE
EQUATES TO
CHARGING
A HIGHER
PRICE
When it is time for our annual business school
in Bali, the air fills with electric excitement as
entrepreneurs fly in from all over the world.
In the last couple of years, we have had
participants from at least fifteen different
of countries, ranging from the tri-nations to
Japan and France. Forces are joint together
with high expectations, ranging from finally
getting some clarity on global positioning,
growth strategies or how to scale as an expert.
I’m fairly sure that that pool is another big pull
to this particular event, as over the years it’s
got a bit of a reputation for producing anything
from world-class business strategies to stories
that will make you crawl with laughter.
During these schools, Mike and I like to ask
people about their most pressing issues
in business, and this year the same theme
seemed to repeat. The entrepreneurial
leaders that takes an interest in our school
are no amateurs, so it is not uncommon to
have a best-selling author, award-winning
ecopreneur or startup success story working
on a particular business challenge in group
context around a table. As you can imagine,
the honor in the work that Mike and I do, does
not only lie in witnesses the coming together
of world-class ideas, but the incredible
intelligence that are born from this ecosystem.
So back to the burning question we were faced
with this year. Productization. It seems most
subject-matter-experts such as consultants,
coaches, speakers and authors are stuck in the
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development of a high-end product or service
that is really well priced.
The problem is not necessarily the quality of
the content that the business professional
has created, but rather the way in which it
makes business sense to a prospective buyer.
And in most cases, the careful way in which
the products and services are packaged for a
specific audience. This has led to the birth of
our High-End Product Design Process, a twelve-
step business technology that promises to turn
your intellectual property into a piece of well-
packaged genius. The process helps business
owners to make sense of their own solution in
such a way that they actually cannot wait to go
out there and sell! In short summary, it shows
entrepreneurs how to re-engineer their client
solutions around THEIR purpose first, before
extensively researching the target audiences
problem. This is humorously referred to as
the ‘big fat problem’, which are turned into a
three dimensional solution that has monetary
value, creates a sense of belonging and help
your potential client to better understand
the journey that you will be taking them
on. Eventually the process takes you to the
packaging, testing and launching of your offer. set in with most people, there was something
specific missing. The products and services
that they managed to develop seemed great,
but not inspiring enough to make a client’s
heart jump with joy. We tested this with the
audience. Who wants to know more about
Tony’s product? A few hands went up. Right.
Who feels like giving Janice their business
card? Mm. Perhaps we should just all go jump
in the pool! Then it dawned on me. Step 4 of
the process – Design – ask the Bali participants
to explore and bring to the surface something
interesting about themselves. A special hobby
or some crazy obsession that they haven’t
shared before. The audience went silent.
Anyone? Barbara’s hand went up. I really love
my coral nails, she said. Everyone laughed.
Then I remembered a conversation between
Mike and Philippe, and industrial engineering
Frenchman that lives in Australia. Would you
mind sharing your essence with the group, I
asked. For a moment Philippe seemed to panic,
but then his eyes softened. And there, in front
of everyone, he shared his love for chocolate
mousse, describing the forty something
recipes he published and how surprisingly
successful this pet-peeve project turned out to
be. People applauded and Philippe sat down.
But that is not exactly where everyone got
stuck this year. Most of the steps in our product
design process created massive clarity for our
participants at our Bali Business School. And
even though the logic behind it seemed to I then asked a similar question as before. Who
would like to do business with Philippe, and
get some tasty chocolate mousse recipes while
doing so. Almost the entire audience’s hands
shot up.