A Driving School With a Lesson in Value

I was in Miami visiting family, and one phrase from this busy storefront signage caused me to stop and immediately yank out my phone:

"We specialize in nervous people."

The owner of this business knows exactly where they are and what they are selling.

A recent study by the law firm Lemon Law Experts found Miami drivers to be the most aggressive, rude, and annoying in the country. On a scale of 0 to 100, with 100 representing a “perfect” annoying driver score, Miami received a score of 98.5.

I have probably driven close to a million miles in my lifetime, from Manhattan to Los Angeles and all points in between. I've driven on the left side of the road in the United Kingdom. I now drive in Metro Atlanta every day, which ranked 8th on the list with a rating of 85.6. I have seen plenty of annoying drivers.

I can understand why Miami wins this contest going away.

It’s easy for me to understand why someone in Miami who needs to go to driving school would be nervous, maybe even terrified.

Someone like this already knows the deliverables: classroom instruction, driving with an instructor, a written test, and a road test. Nothing about that makes this driving school memorable or differentiates them in any way.

What makes them stand apart is that they are communicating to nervous drivers that they understand what they are feeling before they ever walk in the door.

 "We specialize in nervous people" tells them, in effect, we know exactly who comes in here and we know how to help. There is a lot of perceived value packed in that one sentence. There’s little to no unique value in the tests.

This pattern is one of what I call the “red flags of inadequate pricing” I look for when I am evaluating a professional service provider. When the messaging is mostly about the provider, their credentials, their process, their deliverables, and their experience, it often suggests there is an inadequate pricing issue underneath it.

The reason is simple: messaging like that usually reveals what someone thinks is most valuable about their work. When it stays centered on the provider and the mechanics of the service, it often tells me they lack a full understanding of the deeper value the client is actually buying. This makes it nearly impossible to price at that deeper value.

Does this driving school charge a premium for its services compared to others in the Miami area? I don’t know, but I know they’ve got a much better shot at better pricing than the school that only advertises the tests.

That is one reason clients see more value in our services than we do. They are not merely buying the visible service. The service is just a means to a bigger end: lower anxiety, greater confidence, and a better business.

Understanding this idea changes everything about your business, from how you talk to how you price.

_____________________

I’m John Ray, author of The Generosity Mindset. I help expert-service professionals communicate value, attract best-fit clients, and price their work more confidently, without confusing generosity with giving everything away. If you’d like to start a conversation or join the list from my Sunday morning email newsletter, send me a DM.