Banksy

I just saw this online - with no credits, and it reminded me of my father who was a Master Cabinet Maker in Germany before he and our family moved to Canada after WW2. He used to tell me stories about some of the clients that came to the family business in the early 1900s with their unrealistic design, delivery date and price expectations.

In Canada he managed the construction and subsequent maintenance of a dozen large office buildings in Toronto. He used to tell me stories about some of the clients that came to the construction company's head office with their unrealistic design, delivery date and price expectations.

While I spent my career in advertising, I ran into my share of those clients too. They didn't know much, but they all knew how to make any well thought out idea or campaign much "better", how to get the job to the finish line faster, and how do do it cheaper.

Clearly this studio has met one too many clients who know it all.

I love their polite response.

Across North America everybody wants everything faster, cheaper, free shipping, a lifetime guarantee and free returns.

To satisfy this unreasonable, insane, and insatiable desire for more cheap food, goods and services, we’ve gutted small manufacturers in small towns across N. America and sent millions of jobs and billions of dollars, per year, to Asia and India so we can brag about how cheap 'it' is. NOT HOW GOOD IT IS. NOT HOW DURABLE IT IS. OR HOW THIS PURCHASE SUPPORTS OUR LOCAL, PROVINCIAL OR NATIONAL COMMUNITY.

In the process of ignorantly discounting the price of everything from peanuts to military pensions, we’ve also taught our kids that many jobs are not worth doing or having. Notably anything related to one-on-one customer service.

This self-serving, short-sighted and narrow-minded economic mentality continues to shut down local businesses and lays waste to cities, towns and individual aspirations all across North America.

Where will this end?

When companies do not earn a decent profit margin their foundations crumble.

• They cut back - or stop doing research and development.
• Without leading edge research and development their managers blindly follow the “best practices” of their competitors, fail and fall behind.
• Then they cut back on staff training and development.
• Short and long term employee benefits are cut next.
• [Loyal] full time staff members are 'fired' and then 'rehired' as part-time staff . . . with no benefits.
• Part time staff juggle two, sometimes three, jobs just to make ends meet at home. They have no holiday pay, pension plan or medical support.
• Because they are just making ends meet, they can't afford to "support" the arts or charities; two key indicators of a healthy economy. 
• It even impacts the marginal conditions of homeless people who depend on our collective good-will to get by.  
• And on and on it goes - in a giant downward spiral.

One of my x-clients had his website designed and built in the Philippines to save money; they charge 75% LESS than I do. He thought that was very good deal - far too good to pass up. Sadly, while the site was cheap, but it wasn't any good because it didn't driving business to his store.

No research.

No analytics.

No strategy.

No tactics.

He's no longer in business because he couldn't make up in volume what he lost on margin.

When we charge a fair price and invest the profits in our people, our communities, and our industries, we all grow stonger, better and smarter.