Quality is just table stakes
When playing competitive poker, you have to pay to get into the game. That’s called the “table stakes”. When it comes to the wedding and events industry, or really any business, quality is table stakes. You can’t claim doing quality work as a differentiating factor. It’s the minimum required to be in business or in the industry. So, what are your differentiators?
Listen to this new, 7-minute episode for some ideas on how you can understand why quality isn’t what makes you different, it’s just the beginning.
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– Quality is just table stakes. Listen to this episode and find out what I’m talking about. Hi, it’s Alan Berg. Welcome back to another episode of the Wedding Business Solutions Podcast. I heard that phrase in an audiobook I was listening to recently, “Ureasonable Hospitality” by Will Guidara. I might have mentioned this in another one of my episodes. And there’s a resources page on my website with any of the books that I tend to mention on these. Just go to alanberg.com, look for the Resources page and find the tab with books. And you have links right to Amazon where you can find them. And a lot of other books that I like as well. But I digress here. What do you mean by quality is just table stakes? And I think I heard this also from David Avrin. I was listening to one of his books, so I apologize if I confused the two books or maybe it was in both of them there. I know that David definitely said it in in his books. That’s David Arin, A-V-R-I-N.
Table stakes is just like when you go to play poker you have to put your ante up there. You have to pay to play, right? That’s just the minimum to get into the game. Then how much you want to bet after that is up to you. It’s the same thing with quality. Too many people like to say that what differentiates them from someone else is the quality of their work. But doing good work is a minimum requirement. It’s not something that differentiates you. It’s not something that’s going to set you apart from someone else because there are a lot of people out there that do really good work. As a matter of fact, what got a lot of people into the wedding and events industry is the fact that you did good work and then you fell into being in business because of that good work that you do.
So, saying that what differentiates you in someone else is is quality, is, I think just, well, it’s misleading. It’s also false because how do you know, I said this in another episode. How do you know that what you do is actually better than somebody else? Two people will never do the same service for the same wedding or event ever, because that wedding or event is going to happen one time. There’s only going to be one fill in the blank, one venue one caterer, one photographer, one videographer, one florist, one invitation person, one person that provides the fashion, one person that provides the music, right? There’s not going to be this parallel universe where two events of the exact same client are going on at the exact same time and everything’s the same except you and somebody else that does what you do. So, do we really know that you will have done a better job than someone else? And the answer is no. We’ll never actually know that. We might know historically that what you’ve done could set you up for doing a better job. But if we’re being honest, there are other people out there and people that you know, people that you might refer business to, people that refer business to you that do a really good job. And if that person or that company did that instead of you the customer would get a really good outcome. It would be different but it would be a really good outcome.
So, quality is something that you don’t want to be standing on and saying, well that’s why we’re different because you have to do good work. You have to do quality work there. That’s the minimum requirement for getting in there. So, what really are the differentiators? I saw an Instagram post from Kaylee Weiss recently where she talked about not using the word luxury for the same reason because luxury is an overused phrase these days. She said there’s luxury toilet paper. So, do you want to be compared with luxury toilet paper because you’re a luxury brand? Or is there something else you can stand on that really makes you different? Because it’s not quality and it’s not a word like luxury. So, what is it that actually differentiates you from other people? And look around. Look at their websites. Look at the marketing materials of other people in your marketing category. Other people that do what you do in other markets and other categories and look and see. Are you all using a lot of the same words and phrases? And there’s a lot of confusion then for potential customers who look at that and go, well, everybody says this. And if everybody says this, there’s no differentiation. Except in that case, it could come down to price.
Because if they can’t perceive any difference, I’ve said this, I’ve written about this so many times. If the customer or potential customer doesn’t perceive any difference except price, then the lower price has to win. Why would someone spend more money if there’s no perception of any value gain if they spend more? The reason we spend more money on something is because we perceive that there’s going to be a difference. A word like quality is too ambiguous. What does that mean? Same thing with luxury. It’s too ambiguous. What does that mean? So, how do you differentiate yourself then is by looking at other words. And a place that I always like to go is into your reviews. Look at the words and phrases that come up again and again and again from your customers. What do they say about you? Because your brand is in those words and phrases.
That’s what someone else is going to read and decide whether or not to reach out to you because they like the way other people describe the results they got. And they’re probably not just using a word like quality. And they’re probably not using a word like luxury. So, what are the words and phrases they’re using to talk about you? And then how can you use those words and phrases to get across the new potential prospects that you are different that your results will be different and they’re the kind of different that that next customer wants. So, quality is just table stakes, luxury it’s throw away word. What are you going to use to differentiate yourself that other people aren’t using so that you really do look different? Thanks for listening.
I’m Alan Berg. Thanks for listening. If you have any questions about this or if you’d like to suggest other topics for “The Wedding Business Solutions Podcast” please let me know. My email is [email protected]. Look forward to seeing you on the next episode. Thanks.
Listen to this and all episodes on Apple Podcast, YouTube or your favorite app/site:
- Apple Podcast:
- YouTube: www.WeddingBusinessSolutionsPodcast.tv
- Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3sGsuB8
- Stitcher:
- Google Podcast:
- iHeart Radio: https://ihr.fm/31C9Mic
- Pandora:
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