I Paid 100% Of The Money For 100% Of The Sandwich

I haven’t written a rant post in a long time…so here goes.

Recently I became a fan of the very funny Bill Burr. Check him out if you’re into in-your-face hardline comedy. He’s also from the Boston area so I can relate to a lot of the way he views things.

“Bill Burr is the funniest man in business – not in business.”

That’s my quote to preface this post.

Bill does a piece on businesses in Bill Burr: Let It Go that should be taught in every MBA course. It’s a look into how large business chains cut costs by making you do the work or removing value in your purchasing experience.

He’s right on the money with this skit and I’m going to break it down for us to ponder for our own business. Hopefully this gets you thinking too.

I Paid 100% Of The Money For 100% Of The Sandwich

A customer walks into a fast food chain and orders a sandwich. The clerk then informs the customer that the condiments and other toppings are located at a separate table.

Sound familiar?

Hence the line, “I Paid 100% Of The Money For 100% Of The Sandwich!”

Here we are the mighty customer, coming in to purchase a product that we expect to be ready the way we want it. Instead, we’re greeted by someone who is collecting 100% of our money for us to complete the other 50% of the product.

What’s up with that?

I consult on building client websites.

We don’t get halfway through the project and ask a client to “color in the rest” while charging full price.

Would a car dealer tell the customer, “Oh you want this car in red? The paint is out back.”

No. None of this would happen.

So why do we let it happen on the micro product level?

Is it OK to do this when a person is only spending a “small” amount of money? Margins are probably greater so why let this happen?

Are you offering 100% value to your customers?

I’m Sorry They Fired The Mayonnaise Guy But I’m Not Doing It

Ah the mayonnaise guy.

The <insert job title here> that some executive cut out of the line up in order to save cost.

Why? Because you can do it yourself.

Duh.

Is it acceptable to self service a product when there is only one retail price?

Are you selling a product that requires your customer to complete because you’ve factored in the overheard of an employee to do it as too costly?

“Where’s the guy making me do all this extra shit?!” – Bill Burr, Let It Go

Bill also gets into talking about “savings cards” and their underlining purpose of surveying your purchases. Further diving into how bullshit the self checkout process is in the grand scheme of running a business.

In under 3 minutes he captures the pain and suffering of the last 15 years as a consumer.

As a consumer, it got me thinking how some large business are skating by with me fulfilling 50% of a product  or service or paying a premium over a base fee for features.

As a small business owner, it got me thinking how society has seemingly accepted this at the “micro product” level. However, in some service fields (especially creative services) the bar is still held high and demand for value is tremendous.

I Challenge You…

As a consumer

I challenge you to search out the companies, services or products that are making you do more work than you should. Let’s get our voices heard. Post to their social media streams and ask “WHY?”

As an owner

I challenge you to increase the value in your product or service. What can you do to increase customer retention and just be better?

Sound off below if you agree or disagree with some of my thoughts and rants here.