Simplify and Win Big

Two proven pathways to a profoundly profitable business - which will you take?

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Make the right decisions to guarantee the future of your business

Should you be simplifying your value proposition to guarantee the future of your business?

What happens to your business when you simplify your offer?

Because you want to grow your business, think about how to make things simpler for your customers

How do you simplify your product or service and still grow your business?

Choose the right pathway to simplification and your business wins

Your business wins when you choose the right pathway to simplification

Time to choose the right pathway to secure the future of your business…

Your business wins when you choose the simplification pathway – which one will suit your business?

Time to choose the right pathway to success for your business

Are you a price or proposition simplifier – choose the right one for your business

What happens when you simplify the pricing or proposition in your business?

How to choose the right simplification pathway for your business

Which of the two routes to radical growth are you and your business taking?

How can your business achieve radical growth?

If there are just two ways to revolutionise an industry which one are you taking?

If there are two proven pathways to radical business success, which one are you taking?

How can you reduce your prices but grow your business?

What happens to the profits of your business when you simplify your prices?

What happens to the profits of your business when you reduce your prices?

Should you be simplifying your business processes to be able to simplify your prices?

How to use price simplification in your business to grow your profits

Use the price simplification strategy in your business and make it easier for your customers to choose you

Reduce the complexities in your business by implementing the price simplification strategy

How can you increase the value of your proposition and grow your business?

What happens to the profits of your business when you implement the proposition simplification strategy?

What happens to the profits of your business when you focus on simplifying your product or service?

How to use proposition simplification in your business to grow your profits

Use the proposition simplification strategy in your business and make your products and services a joy to use.

What happens when you make your product or service a work of art?

How do you make your product or service more emotionally appealing to your customers?

Proposition Simplification – 3 steps to success in your business

Learn from Henry Ford that price simplification works

How do you simplify the prices in your business – learn from Henry Ford

Should you be thinking about your customer's journey when it comes to simplifying your business prices?

What happens when you halve the prices for your products and services?

How can you grow your business by reducing your prices?

Increase the success of your business by decreasing your prices…

How can implementing a proposition simplification strategy bring your business wins?

Because you want your products and services to bring your customers joy, implement a proposition simplification strategy in your business.

What happens when you simplify your business proposition?

Time to make your products and services a joy for your customers

How easy to use are your products and services? Learn from Apple and Uber how important this is.

How emotionally appealing are your products and services? Learn from Apple and Uber how important this is.

How do you implement a proposition simplification strategy in your business? Learn from Apple and Uber…

How to improve your business by implementing the right simplification strategy

What happens when you choose the right simplification strategy and implement it in your business?

Take the first steps to implement the right simplification strategy in your business

Should you be looking to simplify things in your business?

LinkedIn Updates

1. How do you ensure your customer chooses your products and services over your competition? Click here to discover what happens when you simplify things in your business and for your customers.

2. Should you be simplifying your value proposition to make it easier for your customers to understand your pricing and your offer? Click here to remove the barriers for your customers and make their interactions with you effortless.

3. In an ever-increasing world of complexity, simplifying what you and your business do can actually gain you more customers and increase your sales, profits and growth, as it has for many global brands. Click here to start thinking like Amazon, IKEA and Uber and discover how these global brands have made their businesses simple successes.

4. There are 2 strategies for simplifying your business: price simplification or proposition simplification, but which one will best suit your business and market sector? Price simplification is about creating a much larger market for your products and services, Product simplification is about creating a premium market. Click here to discover how to choose the right one for your business.

5. Implementing any new strategy in your business is not easy. Making changes in your business is time-consuming and requires careful planning and the buy-in of your team. So where do you start? Click here to discover how to choose the right simplification strategy for your business and how to start putting it into practice.

6. Price simplification is the act of offering a simplified pricing structure for your products or services. This means reducing your costs so that you can reduce your pricing options, making it easier for customers to choose your business. Click here to discover more about how to implement this strategy in your business.

7. When you implement the proposition simplification strategy in your business your central aim is to create a beautiful product, that is easy to use and brings joy to your customers. Click here to discover 3 steps that will help you do just this.

8. Implement the proposition simplification strategy in your business and make your products and services a joy to use and more emotionally appealing to your customers, think like Apple. Click here to discover more.

9. Implementing a new strategy in your business can often seem like a daunting task. You are already busy, as is your team. But staying still and being outsmarted by your competition is also not an option. Click here to read a brilliant story about how Henry Ford implemented the price simplification strategy in his business with unprecedented success and how you can do the same.

10. Click here to read a great story of a great man who did not wait but who took the leap of faith, a story of a man who implemented the price simplification strategy so well that, for a period of time, no one else stood a chance. Imagine if you could do that in your own industry.

11. If you asked your customers why they use your products and services, what do you think they would say? Are your products a joy to use? Do they have an emotional appeal to your customers? Have they ever commented on your business bringing them joy? Click here to discover the proposition simplification strategy and how to implement it in your business to ensure the answer to all these questions is YES!

12. Through their relentless focus on proposition simplification, Apple and Uber now dominate their respective markets and are household names, making it difficult for anyone to come into those markets and compete. Click here to discover how can you use the proposition simplification strategy in your business to do the same.

13. How do you improve your business by simplifying what you do? When you simplify your prices or your proposition you make it simpler and easier for your customers to make the decision to buy from you. And really all you want is your customers to stay loyal and recommend you to other customers. Click here to discover 4 helping hands to get you started on the right simplification strategy for your business.

14. Richard Koch and Greg Lockwood's book, Simplify – How the Best Businesses in the World Succeed, is packed full of stories from IKEA, Southwest Airlines, Airbnb and Google. They have implemented either the price simplification or proposition simplification strategies with great success. Click here if you want to know more about how these companies have used these strategies to make their businesses successful, and learn the insights to help you do it in your business

Facebook Posts

1. How do you ensure your customer chooses your products and services over your competition? Click here to discover what happens when you simplify things in your business and for your customers.

Blog Posts

Blog 1 – Simplify your value proposition to guarantee the future of your business

As the leader, owner or manager of your business, you want to ensure that your customers choose your products or services over those of your competition.

You also want to ensure that your products and services fully meet the needs of your customers.

Over the years, you have likely adjusted or tweaked your products and services or changed your pricing structure to accommodate your customers and ensure that they remain loyal.

The ideal customer, of course, is one who loves what you offer, buys from you regularly, remains loyal to you and recommends you to others.

In trying to ensure that your customers do all of the above, you have probably felt that any adjustments made along the way, all done with the best of intentions, have been worth it.

Happy customers are key… right?

At the time, these changes may have seemed like a win, but when you look at your product or service line now or at your price offerings – do they feel more complex or confusing? They are no doubt more complicated than when you first started your business.

And if a new customer approaches you, do you have a clear product or service offering and a clear price offering?

If this is difficult for you to work out, then imagine the experience of a customer approaching your business for the first time.

What your customers want is simplicity – a path that makes choosing your products and services easier.

But how do you do this? How do you look at what you are currently offering and simplify it?

And what are the benefits of doing this for you and for your customers?

Click here to discover two proven pathways to simplifying your business value proposition. When you choose the right one, you can create a more efficient business and happier customers.

Blog 2 – Simplify your prices or your proposition – which strategy will work for you?

When it comes to pleasing your customers, it's easy to think that more is more – the more you do for your customers, the more they will order from you, stay with you, refer you, etc.

Your natural instinct is to provide smarter, better products and a variety of prices to accommodate your customers’ ever-changing needs.

But in a complex world, simplifying what you and your business do can actually gain you more customers and increase your sales, profits and growth, as it has for many global brands.

Think about Amazon – and how easy it is to buy from them. With one click, your product arrives the next day.

Think about Uber – you can now order a taxi, choose your car and your driver and track its arrival.

Think about IKEA – you can go into any store, choose what you want and buy it for the lowest of prices.

All of these businesses have used simplification to grow their businesses into massive successes.

There are 2 strategies for simplifying your business: price simplification or proposition simplification. Which one will best suit your business and market sector?

Price simplification is about creating a much larger market for your value proposition.

In essence, your aim is to simplify your product or service and make it dramatically cheaper.

But in this complex world – how do you do this?

It requires a fundamental shift in your thinking and, in some cases, will mean going back to the very beginning, to the time when you first developed your product, identifying all the processes along the way.

The key to successful price simplification is reducing or removing costs and unnecessary processes from your business, making the product easier to produce.

Simplicity for your business matters – you simplify your processes, operate on low margins and then pass these cost savings on to your customers in the form of price reductions.

You can then often offer just one or two prices rather than using a complicated pricing system, reducing the barriers for your customers and making it easy for them to buy from you.

Proposition simplification involves simplifying your product or service by focusing on what truly matters to your customers. If price simplification creates a mass market, then proposition simplification creates a premium market, where the price is not a major factor. In fact, if you choose to employ the proposition simplification strategy in your business, you will probably charge more.

Instead of trying to be everything to everyone, you need to identify the core value and benefits of your product and work at making it as uncomplicated as possible, as well as emotionally appealing.

You want to create a product or service that is an absolute joy to use.

Think Amazon, Google and Spotify – all great to use, simple and easy to understand.

The winner in this area, though, has to be Apple. Think of the iPhone – Apple has removed many unnecessary functions and features and made this phone so easy to use that once you are part of the iPhone family and tied into Apple Pay, iTunes, etc., you are unlikely to leave. They are also constantly working on new, faster tech, with the aim of creating something which, in Steve Jobs’ words, “looks sleek and beautiful”.

Click here to read more about price and proposition simplification and how to choose the right strategy for your business.

Blog 3 - Price Simplification – 3 steps to success in your business

Implementing any new strategy in your business is not easy – if it was, then everyone would be doing it. Making changes in your business is time-consuming and requires careful planning and the buy-in of your team. But what’s the alternative? Doing nothing?

If you do nothing, you risk getting left behind as your industry moves on without you and your competitors seize their opportunity to steal the march on you.

So, doing nothing is not an option – not if you want your business to grow and prosper.

When it comes to implementing a simplification strategy in your business there are two routes: price simplification or proposition simplification.

Price simplification is the act of offering a simplified pricing structure for your products or services. This means reducing your costs so that you can reduce your pricing options, making it easier for customers to choose your business.

In their book, Simplify, Richard Koch and Greg Lockwood state that “businesses can often benefit from offering a single, straightforward price for their core product or service, rather than confusing customers with a multitude of pricing tiers and options.”

There are several benefits to price simplification: you make it easier for your customer to understand your offer, you make it easier for your customer to make a decision as you have reduced the number of options (maybe even to just one price) and you increase the transparency of your offer, meaning that the price you offer is the price your customer pays, with no fees or hidden extras.

There are 3 fundamental steps to price simplification:

1. Redesign your product or service – You need to make your offer simpler and cheaper but still valuable to your customer. To do this, you could remove some features that may have become complex over time, reduce the variety within your product offering (maybe consolidate a few product lines or remove the low-use products altogether) or add some cheap low-cost benefits, for example, extended warranties, free delivery or money back guarantees.

2. Redesign the business system – You need to make your product or service simpler and cheaper to produce and deliver. You may be able to reduce the number of products or automate your production process, simplify your design, use lighter materials. Think of car assembly lines or the production of fast food.

3. Scale your business – You need to do this as quickly as possible to ensure your competition does not try and get in on your idea. This is easier to do if you are an internet business.

Click here to read more about the benefits of the price simplification strategy and how to implement it successfully in your business, including some great stories of businesses who have got it right.

Blog 4 – Reduce the complexities in your business by implementing the proposition simplification strategy

When making a decision about which strategy you will implement in your business, it's really important to focus on what you do, what your customers want from you and what you are trying to achieve with your product.

If you are wanting to enter the mass market, the pricing simplification strategy is probably most appropriate for you. The aim of this strategy is to simplify your processes to lower your operating costs so that you can lower your prices, increase your customer demand and sell more of your product to more people. The more people buy, the more you can lower your prices, in an ever-repeating cycle.

If your central objective is to create a piece of art, a beautiful product which your customers will use with great delight and joy, then the proposition simplification strategy will likely be more appropriate. This strategy is not about price reduction and price is not a key factor in the strategic decisions you make.

Your aim is to make your product or service, not only of practical use to your customer, but as intuitive as possible and something that they find emotionally appealing due to its beautiful simplicity.

The core focus of any proposition simplification strategy should always be what truly matters to your customers.

The benefits to you and your team are enhanced product focus, better connection with your target audience and cost savings.

To do this successfully there are 3 fundamental steps to proposition simplification:

1. Easier to use – Eliminate unnecessary features, make it intuitive, make it faster, make it portable, make it accessible. There are great stories of how Polaroid and Apple got this right in the Business Breakthrough report accessed by using the link below.

2. More useful – Build in greater functionality without detracting from the ease of use. Netflix have done this by adding additional features to their viewing platform, without changing how easy the streaming service is to use.

3. More emotionally appealing – Art brings a strong emotional connection to what you make or do. It should also make your product or service more intuitive and easier to use.

“We are really shooting for Museum of Modern Art quality.” – Steve Jobs

Click here to read more about the benefits of the proposition simplification strategy and how to implement it successfully in your business, as well as some great stories of businesses who have got it right.

Blog 5 – How do you implement a price simplification strategy in your business? Learn from Henry Ford…

When you are busy being busy, it's easy to overlook and dismiss two proven pathways to a profitable and successful business.

The time needed to look into these strategies, decide which one is right for you, gain the attention of your team and then implement the correct strategy is probably time that you don’t have.

But what is the alternative? Staying with the status quo, with everything just as it has always been?

What happens if your competition implements a key strategy before you and starts to dominate the market in which you operate, attracting some of your customers with lower prices and a better-looking product? What do you do then?

Standing still is not an option, not if you want to survive and thrive.

Here is a great story of a man who did not wait but who took the leap of faith, a story of a man who implemented the price simplification strategy so well that, for a period of time, no one else stood a chance. Imagine if you could do that in your own industry.

“The simplest designs… that no one making a good salary would be unable to own.” – Henry Ford

In the early 1900s, the car industry was booming, but cars were seen as luxury items, where haggling over prices was commonplace. For some potential customers, this made buying a car confusing and uncomfortable.

Henry Ford changed this. In 1908 he introduced the Model-T, a reliable, mass-produced car, making cars accessible to the average person for the first time.

The car was a hit!

But Ford did not stop there – he had the car produced on an assembly line to streamline its production process. He also sold the car at a fixed price. Then, using the price simplification strategy, between 1909 and 1914 he repeatedly redesigned the assembly line production system to drive down his costs and his price offering.

His prices went from $950 per car in 1909 to $490 in 1914, and this price reduction meant that a car was affordable to a much larger segment of the population. Between 1914 and 1916 he continued to redesign his production and in 1916 he reduced the price of his Model-T even further, to $360.

This combination of mass automation, continual production redesign and simple fixed pricing enabled Henry Ford and his Model-T to dominate the market, transforming the car industry.

Could you do the same in your business? Can you simplify your processes and production systems to drive down your operating costs and enable you to enter the mass market with lower prices?

Click here to discover more about the benefits of price simplification and how this strategy also worked for McDonalds, IKEA and Marks and Spencer.

Blog 6 – Learn from Uber and Apple how to win big when you simplify your proposition

You have heard of Apple – obviously – and you probably have an iPhone, an iWatch or an Apple Mac. Or maybe all of them?

You have heard of Uber – used them, rated them, had them rate you?

If I asked you why you like these businesses, and why you use their products and services, what would you say?

What would your customers say if we asked them this question about your product or service?

Apple and Uber are successful because they are deeply rooted to proposition simplification, and both have implemented this strategy with unprecedented success.

The 3 keys for this strategy are:

Ease of use
More useful
Emotionally appealing

Let's think about your products and services for a minute…

How easy are they to use? Do your customers comment on their ease of use? Is it a factor in their purchasing decision? Have you ever asked customers how easy it is to use your products?

Or have your products and services become complicated and impractical? Did they start off easy to use, gradually becoming less user-friendly because of product redesigns and add-ons?

How useful are your products and services? Have you added greater functionality but still maintained the ease of use, or have any changes you have made complicated things?

This is more common than you think, as over time things are added or modified in an effort to please the customer, without the realisation that these changes can often complicate matters.

And are your products a joy to use? Do they have an emotional appeal to your customers? Have they ever commented on your business bringing them joy?

It is time to take a step back and with fresh eyes look at your value proposition from the point of view of your customers.

Here is where Apple and Uber have got it right…

At the heart of Apple's success is its commitment to proposition simplification. It is something at which they excel because they prioritise simplicity and ease of use. Here are a few of the reasons why it has worked:

their product line is streamlined
they have user-friendly, easy-to-understand features that carry over to new products
all of the Apple products can be integrated with a single Apple ID
their products are sleek and attractive, with minimal design features
instant brand recognition
excellent customer service, including in-store
limited product variants – all under easy-to-understand product lines
expansion of services – Apple Music, Apple TV+
simple and emotionally appealing marketing

Uber has also achieved success through proposition simplification – benefitting both customers and drivers. Here’s how:

you can order a taxi on their app
you can see the cost before you book
you can pay on the app
you can choose your car
you can rate your driver
your driver can rate you
drivers can choose when they want to work – using their own cars
they have expanded their service lines to include UberX, Uber Pool and Uber Eats

Through their relentless focus on proposition simplification, Apple and Uber now dominate their respective markets and are household names, making it difficult for anyone to come into those markets and compete.

How can you use the proposition simplification strategy in your business to do the same?

Click here to discover more about the proposition simplification strategy and how using it can benefit your business.

Blog 7 – 4 helping hands to help you choose the right simplification strategy for your business.

Simplification for global success doesn’t work for every business or for every industry, but the potential business wins and competitive advantage that could come from simplifying your price or your proposition means that it is a worthwhile endeavour, one worthy of your time and attention.

What is the harm in investing some time with your team to work out how the patterns of simplification might work for your business?

“To be strategic is to concentrate on what is important, on those few objectives that can give us a comparative advantage, on what is important to us rather than others, and to plan and execute the resulting plan with determination and steadfastness.”

– Richard Koch, co-author of Simplify

Richard Koch and Greg Lockwood's book, Simplify – How the Best Businesses in the World Succeed, is packed full of stories of businesses that have implemented either the price simplification or proposition simplification strategies with great success.

They include IKEA, Southwest Airlines, Airbnb, Google, Direct Line and McDonalds, to mention just a few. If you want to know more about how these companies have used these strategies to make their businesses profoundly successful, and learn the insights to help you do it in your business, then this book is well worth a read.

Koch and Lockwood brilliantly show how the principle of simplification shows up repeatedly in these success stories, and they provide a route map for your business and your products and services.

But in the meantime, here are 4 helping hands to help you put this model to work for you:

1. Put complexity to one side – Being innovative and creative will mean that you have probably added things to your products or services over time. The results of simplicity show that innovation can be powerful when you use it to work out how to do less, take things away and reduce the steps in your process.

2. Choose the right simplification path for your business – Work out which one suits your business – price or proposition simplification – and focus on the changes you can make and on where the payoffs lie.

3. Invest time in being creative – Work out the key elements of your chosen strategy and, with your team, focus on putting them to work in your business. Look for the quick wins and low-hanging fruit to gain some buy-in and momentum at the beginning.

4. Read more about the businesses that have got it right – Read the stories from the book – there are many about businesses, large and small, that have used simplification to great success.

Ultimately, this is about simplifying your business so that your customers buy more often from you, whether you are in the mass market or the premium market. The simpler your business, the easier the decision is for your customers.

What can you do to make your customers’ lives better through either simplifying your price or your proposition?

Click here to read more about price and proposition simplification and discover how to turn your business into a success story by keeping it simple.

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