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Scott DeLuzio

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Integrity: Army Lessons

August 9, 2018 Scott DeLuzio Leave a Comment

When I was in the Army, Integrity was a big deal. Integrity is all about doing the right thing even when no one is paying attention. You rely on your superiors to do their job so that you can do yours effectively. You also rely on your subordinates to have integrity so that you know they’re doing the right thing.

In business, having integrity is equally important. Just last week, the Easy Digital Downloads team showed some real integrity when they announced a pricing change, which was the inspiration for this week’s video.

They didn’t have to make the new lower prices retroactive to prior customers who spent more on their product, but they did it anyway. They showed integrity in the process, and increased the trust that their customers have in their brand.

EDD could have quietly changed the prices so that the existing customers would renew at the higher price point. But that’s sleazy and not their style. EDD is a brand with integrity, and that’s enabled them to gain a reputation as a trustworthy brand in the WordPress ecosystem.

No company is flawless. When mistakes are made, it’s how you handle them that makes the difference.

Today, I want to talk a little bit about integrity. Integrity is one of those army values that we had that sort of expected that every soldier who was in the army would act with integrity, basically at all times. Integrity means doing the right thing, even when no one else is watching.So, even though you might be able to get away with that thing that you did, be honest with yourself and try not to get away with those types of things. Take responsibility for your actions and fess up when you screw up, that type of thing.

As a soldier, it’s important to have integrity, because all the soldiers who relied on each other needed to know that they were all operating with integrity. So all the way up and down the chain of command, you needed to know that the soldiers that you relied on for leadership were acting with integrity, and also the soldiers that you were leading, if you were in that leadership position, you had to know that they were operating with integrity as well, so that way you could trust that they’re doing the right thing at all times.

And so, now let’s kind of take a look at what it would be like in a business setting, which is why I wanted to bring up integrity, because there was a great example of a company that was operating with integrity recently in the WordPress space, the Easy Digital Downloads team, just last week showed the integrity of the company. So, last week they realized that they had created these bundle plans for all of the products that they sell, and they sold them in kind of a bundle package kind of deal. And they realized last week that the pricing for these were just set too high. They weren’t selling the way they were expecting them to, and it was just priced too high.

So, they had these plans that, I have it pulled up here on my computer, at $199, $399, $699, all the way up to $899. So not an insignificant amount of money for certain people, depending on what you’re selling or whatever, that can be a significant chunk of money. And they realized that was priced too high.

And so, what they did last week, was they announced these new prices that were set to $99, $199, $299, and $499. So, up to a $400 savings, depending on the plan that you had, about 50% off, depending on the plan that you had subscribed to. Now, the thing was, this is pricing for new plans, so for new customers who are joining their pricing plans. And so that might leave a customer like me, who had bought into the higher priced tiers or whatever you want to call it might make me feel a little bit left out.

Alright, well I spent $899 on this one tier and now someone else who may be a brand new customer is getting it for $499. What gives? I’ve been a customer for years and should be treating me the same way, if not a little bit better than the customers who are maybe brand new for that type of thing.

And that’s exactly what they did and it’s awesome. Because they showed the real integrity by doing the right thing by adjusting. So, I had committed to an $899 a year price for this particular package, and every year I was going to renew it, $899 all the way throughout. And so, what they did is they went in and they lowered the price that I’m going to renew at to $499, the new pricing level that they have on here. And so, they went back and they did the right thing. They didn’t have to do the right thing, but it was the right thing to do. And I had committed to that price point, and so I probably would’ve been okay to pay that dollar amount, that $899. I had already committed to doing so, but in doing that, going back and changing it they’ve gained my trust. They already have my trust, but for their customers acting this way, is a way to put in there the trust that they are going to do the right thing.

So, I know if I have a problem with their product, or their pricing, or their service, or whatever, I can go to them and say, hey look, I have this problem and I’m pretty confident that they’re going to do the right thing. And so, I think that’s the take away from this, is to kind of instill that confidence in your customers, in your employees, in your, whoever relies on you, that you’re going to do the right thing, no matter what.

Army Lessons

Want to learn together?

I'd like to share the lessons I've learned while in the Army with you. You don't need to be a soldier to learn something from a veteran. These lessons can apply to your business or personal life, and help motivate you to leap into the next big thing in your life.

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