Could your members move to your competition and get the same level of service from them?

If so, you have a problem. And the problem gets bigger as your space grows if you don’t fix it.

The problem is commoditization. When you are easily replaced, you become a commodity.

The more you become a commodity, the less you can charge and the harder you have to work to earn your members’ business.

Gas, for example, is a commodity. You wouldn’t pay more for gas when you could get it cheaper somewhere else, right?

Let me tell you a story to help get your strategic juices flowing.

Yesterday, I bought a $479 ebook.

Yes, an ebook.

Am I insane? Well, I certainly hope not!

Let me tell you why.

1. The ebook was highly specific to my needs
2. I couldn’t get the same quality information anywhere else (that I know of)
3. I trust (from experience) that the author will over-deliver on the topic
4. I believe it will produce a significant return on investment for me

Is the book written and intended for everyone? Absolutely not.

Will it be worth it? Over the lifetime of my business, I expect to see more than a 100x return because of it.

Does the ebook sell at a premium price? Most definitely!

Is a $479 ebook expensive? I’d say it depends. Like all things, it depends on whether I actually get more value than what I paid for it.

Think back to yesterday’s email about the benefits your clients receive from your coworking space.

Do you know which benefits are creating more value than the cost of their membership?

If they could get those same benefits from other spaces in your market at a lesser price, would they stay?

The first part of anti-commoditization is to be in a Category of One.

Knowing your ideal market and over-delivering on your promises to them is the only way to add more value than your competition.

Pleasing everyone a little bit is worse than pleasing a few people a lot.

Business gets easier when you are not easily replaced, but it’s hard to make the trade-offs necessary to get there.

Let me know if I can help with that.