One Calgary man is doing business a little differently now.
That’s because Shayne Greer allows his customers to pay whatever they want for the excavation work, landscaping, snow removal, and cleaning services offered by his company, Focus 4 Development.
As with any company, Greer was always looking for ways to stay competitive, often lowering his prices and margins. He admits that his customer service lowered as well.
His latest strategy of letting customers set the price by determining the value of his work, however, seems to be working out for him.
Once a service is rendered, an invoice will be issued without any price attached. The hope, of course, is that a customer will pay what they feel is fair. Of course, should they decide to pay nothing, then they don’t have to (they do have to live with that bad karma, however). There are also a lot of cheap people out there who may try to disguise their cheapness for ignorance as to the standard cost for a particular service.
On the positive, though, the business model gives people a chance to build trust and relationships as they exchange value.
A few weeks back, when Greer set up a ‘pay-what-you-think-it’s-worth’ car wash, people gave anywhere from $5 to $100. The average amount was $22 – a figure that Greer says is double the going rate.
“I don’t feel at risk at all about offering this to the public,” said Greer, according to CBC. “And it’s really the first time in my life that I haven’t been thinking about what the monetary gain would be as an entrepreneur.”
Taking this thinking a step further, Focus 4 Development also plans to donate 10 per cent of its sales to four charities, create a ‘pay it forward’ program, and help support the Calgary’s Snow Angel program.
So far, this is an inspirational tale. Only time will tell if it’s a cautionary one too…
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