We don’t say that sort of thing around here

“Can you actually say this in English?” is a phrase we use a lot in the early years of learning a new language. English or any other.

Don’t just ask your vendors to explain their cost structure. Ask them to justify it.

In fact, for any of us who have learned a foreign language at any point in our lives, checking whether what we just said is actually a thing that is said is constant.

Does this phrase work? Does my meaning travel? Is what I just said… intelligible? Understandable? Is it correct?

It’s a journey, and it can be frustrating at times. Infantilising. Having thoughts that are more complex and mature than your means of expressing them. But it is a rewarding process as well, as whole worlds open up before you. Eventually.

The best thing about learning foreign languages isn’t so much learning to make fun new sounds and unlocking text and conversation that was hitherto inaccessible. Although, that too.

The best thing, for me, is being exposed to the things some cultures have words for while others don’t and are content to just describe the thing when the need arises; the things some cultures have many (and I mean many) words for when, for others, one will do and context gets to do the rest of the heavy lifting.

And of course, most interesting of all, the things that are acceptable to say in certain languages, in certain cultures, whether you have a word for them or not.

When I first learned the meaning of the phrase “I can’t afford this”, I mentally filed it away in the same space in my brain as taxidermy: words I have learned at school but will never use. And true enough, 27 years of living in English-speaking countries and the only times I have used the word ‘taxidermy’ is to point out I have never used it in a sentence. Ever.

Not so with the idea of saying out loud you can’t afford something. 12-year-old me was wrong to expect this phrase to rust unused. The world of varying cultural context was opening up before me. It turns out, we wouldn’t say that sort of thing in Greece, but the English-speaking world was liberatingly open about admitting something was beyond one’s means.

Of course, there are many things we can’t afford in Greece, and many people who can’t afford things.

The not affording part is not the issue. It’s speaking the words that is the issue.

In Greece, saying out loud you can’t afford something is not a done thing. Losing face is the worst thing that can happen because somehow it never seems circumstantial. You never truly recover from it. And admitting you can’t afford something in a context where others may expect you to is an own goal nobody would ever score because it may become a stain. A thing whispered about. A deficit that defines you.

So imagine my surprise when I moved to the UK and saw that people would say they can’t afford things without shame or compunction.

It could be a case of I can’t afford it this month, or I can’t afford it at all. It could be a case of I have the money for this but, in context, I can’t justify spending it for this. Whatever that is.

It may be a case of let’s go out by all means, but I can’t afford that high-end sushi restaurant so let’s do a pub lunch instead.

I learned that offering to buy a bottle of cheap and cheerful wine is acceptable.

I learned what it looks like to live in a society that has no shame around living to the extent of your available funds and the choices that allows one to make.

And I liked it.

I like it so much I have espoused it, much to the chagrin of my Greek family. In fact, not only have I embraced it most enthusiastically, but I have chosen to take it a step further: from I can’t afford this to… wait for it… I can afford it, but I don’t think it’s worth what you are asking for. If we are going to talk about what I am able to pay, surely we should be talking about what I am willing to pay too, right?

Funnily enough, the Greeks are more comfortable with the belligerence of the second sentiment. The Anglo-Saxon world, less so.

But why not?

If we are comfortable admitting something is beyond our means (and that is healthy), why are we limiting ourselves to thinking about ‘value for money’ in terms of savings and not literally what it says on the tin: value commensurate to the price tag?

Have you tried really having that conversation?

At work, I mean. Because trying to have it at the checkout of the local supermarket may be unfair on the cashier, frustrating for the lad behind you in line and unhelpful on the whole.

But have you tried to have the value creation conversation at work? And I mean, really have it, not just read some words on a PowerPoint slide and move on?

It is a fun conversation to have, let me tell you. It tells you a lot about the people you have across the table from you, and I really think you should add it to your next RFP.

When it comes to pricing, don’t just filter vendors on whether your organisation can afford the spend, as is normally done. You know how it normally goes: These are too expensive and over budget, these are suspiciously cheap compared to the others so let’s go with the middle band and shuffle through the usual questions before making a selection.

Why not ask the ones whose solutions you like to really explain the pricing as part of their pitch and specifically ask them to explain why their product or service is worth what they are charging?

Not why it costs what it costs, by the way.

But why it is worth what it costs. Which is a qualitatively different conversation. And one most folks can’t have because they don’t really have an answer and they don’t have an answer because they don’t expect you to ask: they go through the motion of ‘value creation’ but they are not ready to really defend the number. They don’t have an answer because they are not really expecting to need to have it.

A client of mine recently told me that a supplier they had been working with for a while reviewed their prices dramatically. And I mean a zero was added out of nowhere. We were not within the boundaries of ‘in line with inflation’ territory here.

When challenged as to their new numbers, not the need to have more revenue (we all get that), but the reason why they really thought they were allowed to charge this new, considerably inflated baseline… the vendor’s defence was essentially, “It’s cost us a lot to build this product, it’s costing us a lot to run and our current numbers don’t stack up.” Honest. But inadequate. Because effectively what they admitted is: we don’t know how to run our business effectively, we made some erroneous and potentially naïve bets and you will now have to pay for that literally and figuratively.

And look. Getting pricing right is hard. Maybe I will write about that next week.

There are steps that can help you do it right, but it is hard even if you do the work right.

It is hard in terms of both getting the number right and getting the narrative right. And by right, I mean both compelling and correct. As in accurate and viable.

Of course, cost configurations come into play when working out what to charge. But it should be a lever you control, not a baseline you expect your clients to swallow.

And of course, you will also always peg your cost against whatever the accepted going rate is… if you are paying 5x what I was going to charge you and seem happy to continue doing so, who am I to argue?

But why are you the buyer not arguing?

Please, please add the value creation question to the next RFP and let me know how it goes. Truly spend some time on it and examine the answers. It will be the single most illuminating thing you ever do.

If you like the idea and don’t know how to do it, seriously, DM me and I will do it for you.

Don’t just ask your vendors to explain their cost structure. Ask them to justify it. Don’t ask them to align to what you can afford, ask them to align their proposed cost to value delivered and realised.

You need to be vigilant to not let them get away with doing that in terms of what they know you can afford – because they know – or in terms of what they know you are paying right now – because they know that too… but in terms of what the thing they are selling you is worth.

Really worth.

Cumulatively.

In terms of total cost of ownership and future proofing your estate. In terms of engagement, support, creativity. Whatever it is they bring that makes them worth more than the competition or cost less. That needs to be justified, too.

Expect the conversation. Create the conversation. Demand the conversation.

We are good at talking about what we can afford. We are open and transparent about budget constraints. It’s a given and a conversation we all expect.

Let’s get as comfortable at asking questions around value beyond the charade of PowerPoint filler.

Because whether you can afford the thing is secondary to what the thing is worth. So shift the conversation and make it an expectation of the sort of thing we always do around here: expect people to be able to justify their price tag in terms of value and not in terms of cost and market benchmarks.

#LedaWrites

Leda Glyptis is FinTech Futures’ resident thought provocateur – she leads, writes on, lives and breathes transformation and digital disruption.

She is a recovering banker, lapsed academic and long-term resident of the banking ecosystem. 

Leda is also a published author – her first book, Bankers Like Us: Dispatches from an Industry in Transition, is available to order here.

All opinions are her own. You can’t have them – but you are welcome to debate and comment!

Follow Leda on X @LedaGlyptis and LinkedIn.