There was a moment at a recent networking event that stuck with me. A conversation with a friend in the training space. Experienced. Capable. Proven results. And yet, he was wrestling with something that comes up more often than people realise:
“I’m finding it hard to get bums on seats.”
Assumption?
“It’s price. Everyone is cheaper. It’s becoming a race to the bottom.”
But as we talked it through, something else started to surface… Price might not be the problem.
There’s Too Much to Communicate
As the conversation unfolded, he mentioned he had seven different training programmes that all needed to be communicated
To be clear - that’s not a problem in itself. Those services matter.
They all have value.
They all deserve attention.
But it raised an interesting question:
What happens when you try to communicate all of them at the same time?
Because, you don’t have minutes to explain what you do. With almost all forms of content all you have is the first 3 seconds. If someone doesn’t understand what you offer in those first few seconds, they don’t stick around long enough to find out.
They don’t think:
“This looks excellent.”
They might assume:
“I’m not quite sure what they do.”
And when that happens, the only thing left to compare is… Price.
A Race to the Bottom
We started to explore what that might mean in practice.
When communication is spread across multiple services at once:
The message becomes harder to grasp
The positioning feels less clear
The value takes longer to land
So even if the training is genuinely better… It doesn’t immediately feel different. And if it doesn’t feel different, it becomes comparable. If it becomes comparable, it becomes cheaper.
INSIGHT: People Price You Before You Speak
Another interesting point came up as we were talking. Not about the service itself… But about what happens the moment you name what you do. Because as soon as you say it, people don’t just hear it.
They categorise it.
I shared this from my own experience. When I first started, I used to introduce myself as a videographer. The moment people heard that, whether they realised it or not, they had already decided what that should cost.
There was a bracket.
An internal reference point. A quiet assumption of:
“I know roughly what that is.”
So I asked a simple question in return:
“If I said someone works in HR, what do you think they earn?”
The answer came back almost instantly:
“About 35–40k.”
No hesitation. No calculation. Just a number.
And when I asked why… there wasn’t really an answer. It was just a mental anchor.
The Same Thing Happens in Training
The same thing happens when someone hears:
“We run training courses.”
Before you’ve explained:
The depth of your experience
The quality of your delivery
The real-world impact
They’ve already placed you in a bracket. And once that bracket is set… Everything you say afterwards gets filtered through it.
Why This Matters, because now you’re not starting from a blank slate. You’re trying to reframe an assumption that’s already been made.
It’s why two providers can offer very different levels of quality… But still get compared in the same way.
The Shift: Lead With Outcomes, Not Labels
This is why how you describe what you do matters so much. Not just for marketing. But for perception. I don’t introduce myself as a videographer anymore.
I run Datrysiad Media and what we do is:
We facilitate compelling communication that helps businesses solve problems.
We are trying to open up a conversation. It creates curiosity, and most importantly…
It avoids being boxed in before I’ve even had chance to explain the value.
You Don’t Need to Fix the Product
Another thing that became clear through the conversation… The training itself wasn’t the issue.
There was:
Strong feedback
Real experience
Credibility behind what was being delivered
So this wasn’t about changing the product. It was about something else entirely. No matter how good something is… If people don’t understand it quickly, they won’t act on it.
The Shift: Focus Your Communication, Not Your Business
This is where the conversation naturally landed. Not on removing services. Not on simplifying the business. But on focusing the communication. Instead of trying to lead with all seven programmes at once… What happens if you lead with one?
One service that:
Represents the standard
Is easy to understand
Can be communicated clearly and consistently
The others don’t disappear. They’re still there. But from the outside? There’s a clear entry point.
The SAS Principle: Excellence by Proxy
At one point, we used the SAS as an example. They’re known for being the best of the best. Highly specialised. Highly focused.
Now imagine you discovered they offered something outside of their core speciality. You wouldn’t question it.
You’d assume:
“If they’re that good at this, they’ll be excellent at that too.”
That’s what happens when communication is focused. Excellence transfers.
Content Isn’t About Explaining - It’s About Engaging
We also touched on how content is often approached. Most training providers default to explaining what they do. Explanation doesn’t always hold attention. Engagement does.
For example, instead of saying:
“Here’s what we teach in our course…”
You could ask:
“You’re on the door. This situation unfolds. What do you do?”
Now the viewer is involved.
They’re thinking.
They’re assessing.
They’re comparing their own approach.
And when you then show:
What most people would do
Why that might not work
What actually works
You’re not just explaining the training. You’re showing why it matters.
Stop Asking “What Do You Do?”
This came up as part of the conversation too. One of the most common questions we ask is:
“What do you do?”
It sounds simple. But it often shuts things down. Because it forces people to compress years of experience into a short answer.
Instead, try:
“Tell me about a situation where you thought this might not end well.”
Now you get:
Stories
Emotion
Context
Insight
And through that, you understand far more. This applies just as much to content as it does to real conversations. If there’s one idea that stood out from that conversation, it’s this:
It’s not always price that’s the issue.
It’s how clearly the value is understood.
And clarity doesn’t come from saying more things. It comes from saying one thing well, consistently.
My REFLECTION
You don’t need fewer services. You don’t need to lower your prices, and you don’t need to change what you deliver. Sometimes, the shift is much simpler than that. Make it easier for people to understand where you are exceptional.
Because once they understand that… Everything else becomes easier to trust.
ABOUT ME
My name is Byron Phillips and I run Datrysiad Media.
Datrysiad Media is a video production company based in Cardiff. We help businesses with their pain problems and communicate their stories.
We are a full-service video production that can handle every aspect of the video production process. Creating high-quality video content that meets your needs and exceeds your expectations.
