Graded Levels of Commitment

If your revenue streams have slowed down or completely dried up, your solution may be as simple as creating graded levels of commitment for your current and prospective clients.

Implementing graded levels of commitment (GLC) involves capturing the attention of prospects in different market segments with new product or service developments offered at different price points. Here are five steps to incorporate GLC into your business.

Get Creative
Sit down for 30 minutes and think of at least 50 new product or service ideas. If you are a coach or consultant, could you provide a less expensive, long-distance consulting package by e-mail or phone? If you are a financial planner, would it make sense to explain your processes in a book to help prospects get comfortable with how you manage money? If you are a chiropractor, can you offer a “premium service package” with added benefits for upper-class clients?

Select Your Best Five Ideas
Narrow your list of 50 ideas down to your top five. Which ones create a positive emotional charge? Which ones make you feel most excited about working on right now?

Analyze Feasibility
Now take those top five and conduct a feasibility study over the course of the next five or seven days. Some things to think about include:

• Development time and cost
• Marketing cost
• Demand for that particular product or service
• Break-even point
• Current level of branding within the target market

Analyzing these factors will help reduce risk and narrow your choices down to one or two that you can work on right now.

Choose Your Best Option
Of the final five choices, pick the one with the highest reward for your risk tolerance. I recommend focusing on only one major project at a time because of the amount of effort it takes to ensure a new product’s profitability.

Take Action
Once you have made your choice, move forward with your marketing plan. Don’t waste time second guessing yourself; give the market a chance to respond and measure the result of your efforts.

Popularity: 66% [?]