What is emotional discounting? It is when we start abandoning business models and pricing structures and allow emotions to drive or impact our revenue, prices, decisions, etc. In this salon industry blog, 2 Reasons Why It’s (Too) Easy to Emotionally Discount, the author explains the dynamic of what happened to cause a stylist to discount hair coloring, then offers some insight and tips. As you read this little story, begin considering the dynamic we face and the need for balance.
In Restoring Success, Nothing is Scarier than Scope Creep, emotional discounting is presented as a root cause of scope creep. Emotional discounting can result in problems during the execution of a job and have a direct impact on job profitability and ultimately the company’s bottom line.
It all began when a friend mentioned the concept to me in a casual conversation, having nothing to do with the restoration industry. I almost immediately started recalling countless scenarios, jobs, and conversations, and realized they were all related to issues resulting from emotional discounting. As the great Zig Ziglar points out, “The first step in solving a problem is to recognize that it does exist.” I developed a weird excitement because in an instant I had a better understanding and a new context to some of the most basic things we encounter in our industry.
As an industry we value empathy, the ability to understand and share feelings with others. Many of the services in our industry revolve around serving others who experienced a disaster, devastation, and interruption. There may be added financial strains and a variety of other factors impacting those we serve. Consider the fact that we encourage and develop emotional skills, the ability to connect and empathize with our customers. Review this quality in meetings and demand it in interviewing new candidates; we even use our emotional abilities to engage people and develop relationships when describing the values and people in our companies. When you combine these dynamics, it could be a recipe for emotional discounting disaster.
Click here to read Lisa’s entire article: Emotional Discounting in the Restoration Industry | 2021-02-04 | Restoration & Remediation Magazine (randrmagonline.com)