The Cheapest Unreliable Alternative Decision (CUAD) is the one often made by financially strapped business leaders and managers.

Actions that fall into CUAD category are: fear-driven down-sizing; hiring or buying the cheapest vs. the best; price cutting, abdicating, micromanaging, RFP’ decisions, etc.

A lot of people think they’re choosing  the Cheapest Reliable Alternative Plan, which means picking the cheapest one that’s good enough.

B2B’s, in the face of these understandable decisions, have a few choices:
You can decide to be cheapest –  difficult to sustain because it erodes your margins so you have to sell more with less profit into a commodized market.

You can switch playing fields and operate on value-based criteria. This requires developing relationships with your B2B customers to become the one that can demonstrate and deliver expected ROI.
Challenging but not impossible. You have change your mindset to having, say, 3 long-term, profitable customers from 10 commodity-tight-margin customers who either (a) demand cheaper next time; or (b) will move to DUAB in an instant.

A value-based, sustainably profitable strategy requires that you have the courage and competencies change the rules of enagagement, vs. scrambling for the next sale so you can stay in business.

Reminder note to Self: Revenue is Vanity. Profit is Sanity. Cash Flow is Oxygen to a Business.

Here is Value-Based Reliable Decision tool box — for your sustainable grow and survival.

From Dr. Jim Sellner, PhD.,DipC. — working with Zoomers & Super Zoomers leaers so they can experience more possibilities for experiencing more joy, health and a sense of abundance.

Dr. Jim is author of Leadership for Einstein’s: Bringing Out the Genius in People While Becoming Great Yourself.
He co-leads Brains’ Trusts Peer Groups for CEO’s and executives.