Uneducated Buyers Buy on Price | Law No. 23 | JRCMO Laws & Principles
Uneducated Buyers Buy on Price
If you don't teach buyers how to judge you, they'll judge the only thing they can see: price.
If price is the only thing buyers can compare, price is the only thing they'll compare.
Uneducated Buyers Buy on Price is Law No. 23 of the JRCMO Laws & Principles, from fractional CMO Joshua Ramsey. It says most buyers can't judge workmanship, process or expertise on their own, so when nobody teaches them what to look for, they compare the one number they can see: price. The business that teaches buyers how to judge the work sets the standard every competitor gets measured against. The test: after reading your page, could a buyer ask a competitor a question that competitor would struggle to answer? If not, you informed the buyer, but you didn't educate them.
Teach the yardstick, or lose to the price tag.
The company that teaches buyers how to measure the work decides how the work gets measured.
What this law actually says
Buyers aren't cheap. They're uninformed. A homeowner comparing three roofing quotes can't see the underlayment, the flashing or the insurance coverage. They can see three numbers, so they pick the lowest one.
Education changes the comparison. When you show a buyer the five things to check before hiring anyone, the cheaper option suddenly has to answer questions it can't. You never have to say a word about the competitor. The buyer does the comparing for you.
This builds on the Educate step in Rich Harshaw's Monopolize Your Marketplace sequence. The Girlfriend Effect earns attention and gets the buyer engaged. This law covers what you teach them next, so they can tell you apart.
The Buyer's Yardstick Builder
Write the questions a smart buyer should ask before hiring anyone in your category. The builder checks that each question carries a consequence, then formats a ready-to-use "5 Questions" list you can put on a page, in a PDF or in every quote. A weak example is loaded. Nothing is stored or sent anywhere.
Every question should be one you answer well and the average competitor answers badly. Never name a competitor.
You win on price or you don't win
When buyers can't tell the difference, every quote becomes a bid. You either drop your price to match the lowest number or lose the job to it. Over time, the business that does the work right ends up subsidizing the education the buyer never got.
And the loss reason you hear, "too expensive," is usually wrong. The real reason is that nobody showed the buyer why the cheaper quote cost more in the end.
Why smart people keep doing it
Because explaining feels like bragging.
Owners worry that teaching buyers what to check sounds self-serving. Done as a checklist, with no competitor named, it reads as help.
Because you assume buyers know what good looks like.
You've done the work for years. The buyer is doing it once. What's obvious to you is invisible to them.
Because the quote is just a number on a page.
A quote that only shows the price invites a price comparison. A quote that comes with the yardstick invites a quality comparison.
Because attacking cheaper competitors feels petty.
It is. That's why the yardstick never names anyone. It just gives the buyer the questions, and the questions do the work.
How to build your Buyer's Yardstick
- Write "The 5 Questions to Ask Before You Hire Any [Category]." Each one should be a question you answer well and the average competitor answers badly.
- Tie every question to a consequence. "Ask if they pull the permit. If they don't, the insurance claim can be denied."
- Ship it in three forms. A page where each question is a heading, a one-page PDF, and a sales-call script.
- Attach it to every quote. The buyer measures every competitor with your ruler.
- Track two numbers. Close rate on quotes sent with the Yardstick versus without it, and how often price is the reason you lost.
The Blind Spot Brain drafts your Yardstick from your sales calls and lost-deal notes, then turns it into a page, a PDF and a script.
Rather talk it through? Call 214.466.8332.
Common questions
What does Uneducated Buyers Buy on Price mean?
It means buyers who don't know how to judge the work compare the only thing they can see, which is price. Teaching them what to check changes what they compare.
Isn't this just content marketing?
No. Content marketing informs. A Buyer's Yardstick educates on purpose: every question is chosen so the buyer can tell a good provider from a cheap one.
What should go on a Buyer's Yardstick?
Five questions a smart buyer should ask any provider, each tied to the consequence of choosing wrong, and each one you can answer well.
How do I know if it's working?
Compare close rates on quotes sent with the Yardstick against quotes sent without it, and track how often price is the reason you lost.
