The solid deal Manifesto

Some products feel, like they are a honest solid deal. Easy to understand terms and a seemingly fair and transparent pricing. You choose those products, because those attributes give you enough trust in them, to believe, they are a solid choice. It is not about the best choice. Not about comparing for hours, days and until you are 100% sure you found the best solution. It is about a choice you make, after spending some time into the research. It is about the feeling you have, when you decide and think: It might not be the cheapest or best option, but it is for sure a solid and fair one. This is about, how we build this solid deal.

Why is a solid deal the deal we should provide?

When providing a solid deal, we are maximizing the win for us - while also maximizing the win for all the others. If we offer a deal, that is fair, transparent and feels honest, we are able to find customers we want. Customers, that appreciate not feeling like they get scamed but rather feel like, they are offered a solid deal. Those are much more likely to stay your customer without causing a lot of additional work. This enables us to to earn a deserved profit, having a fair amount of work to do and the peace of mind, knowing we did the right thing - for this circumstances.

Market your offer is a lot of work, if you want to build something big and be the best. You need to do a lot of outreach, go to events, talk to people and spend a lot of energy. But with a solid deal, we do not rely on offering such an awesome product, which enables us to convince a customer it is the best for him. People, that need a solid solution will find us somehow and the offer will convince them. We do not want everyone as our customer. We want customers, that need a solid deal. Nothing more. Nothing less.

One of the most underated aspects and not really transtlated in to numbers is thankfulness of a customer. The problem starts, when a customer spends a lot of time researching the best solution and he has hidden hopes, that you will provide things you are not obligated to - and do not want to, because it should be just a solid deal. They will project there anger and frustration on you and your offer, because you did not do more than you should have. No one wins. Those customers are better of with a person or company, that wants to be best and overdeliver. But, when we offer a solid deal, to a customer, that does not want more than just what he needs, something that works, is reliable and fair, then the customer will be thankful. He knows, it is not the best option and it is not the cheapest. It is the ideal one, for him. That is what he will be thankful for. A solid solution, to a problem, he does not care too much about. And he is willing to pay a bit extra for that.

So, why do we do that?
Because we want to have thankful customers, a fair profit for a fair amount of work and want to do the right thing.

Who should provide it?

You are extremly passionate about what you offer? This is not for you. If you have the ressources to offer something and you are happy to do it in case you receive something as reward, then, this is absolutely for you. This will not work, if you are too emotionally invested, if this feels like having a business as a baby, thats awesome and you are meant to achieve more than what we try with a solid deal. Y Combinator tells you, don't be a meadian startup. But we are not building a unicorn, we are building a solid offer. This will not change your life, nor will it change the life of your customer. But it will make it easier for both.

Which deal are we talking about

It applies to pretty much every deal, where you need be sure enough, that it is a solid choice, but are not too emotionally attached and fascinated by it, so you want to spend time on research, like comparing every details, watching videos about it and tell everyone about it. It can be a deal for you or it can be a deal where you act on behalf of an organization. It can be the hotdog-stand from around the corner - it is maybe not the best option, but you know what you get. Some solid hotdog, for a fair price without worring, about a rumbling stomache after you ate it. Or it can be a car, when you just need one for a few months to get from A to B realiably. Not the dream car, you have a picture of in your wallet. Just that something you need to do the other thing. It's that server, you need to host your new website. It's the website you need to show you are a legitimate business, it is the hotdog bread you need to sell your hotdogs. It is about those deals you care, but not too much. It is okay, if the server is slow sometime. It is okay my website is not pixel perfect and it is okay if the bread has not the perfect mouthfeel. You just need it to do its job.

Characteristics of a solid deal

Let us try to characterise those deals. To identify or build one.

Transparency and honesty

Especially the pricing should be simple and transperent. If you have costs, add a margin and there you have it. Do not halucinate restrictions for your product, where it is only annoying for the customer and not coming out of additional costs for you. If there is a price on the website, it should be the price you charge the customer in the end. Do not hide your fees. Best case, do not have fees at all that are just made up to make a little bit more money.

One time payment > fixed monthly subscription > some variable pay what you need thing which can explode from one month to another.

Price it fairly. So you get a fair profit and you do not need to raise the prices every year, just because you have calculated to optimistic. Our target customer prefers to pay a little bit more, instead of having the hassle every year, to check what he is currently paying, what he will be paying and if there maybe even is a better solution for him. Our customers feel when it is a fair price, so they also feel, when the profit margin is too high.

Transparency is not the only important thing. We also need to make sure, that we do not suggest something, that is not true. Or in a gray area. Like, we have a scalable solution - but you can only go from a 5GB Package to a 10GB Package where in the same context, the gerneral understanding for scalable would mean, 5GB to 1TB. Just be honest in your communication. Maybe some of the customers, will not buy from you, but those customers are exactly those, which will cause a lot of extra work and use some extra nerves. By giving up some money now, you will save a lot more later.

Scalability

Realism

Sometimes it is tempting to promise something, that you know, could be difficult to provide. For a solid offer, we are honest and realistic. If something will not work, we tell the customer about it and we never try to raise expections we can not meet. Like, telling him it will be done in two weeks, while we already know, it will not be done in two weeks but the customer is only going to sign the contract, when we tell him we can do it. If this is the case, this is not the customer we want and in the end, he will make us much more work, than he will pay.

Reliability

One of the most important factors is, that your product needs to work. Without a lot of mistakes and customer required action. If you buy a hotdog, you are dissapointed, if the sausage falls out and the bread breaks. If you pay for webhosting and the server is down every day, you will not be too happy too. After you won a customer, he expects what you have promised. Nothing more and nothing less.

How to build a solid deal?