Chapter 8

The Value Myth

The next morning, Josh arrived early at Cor's shop with coffee for everyone.

“You practicing abundance, Josh?” Cor joked.

Josh blushed. “I paid for the person behind me in line, too. I do feel like I need the practice.”

“How so?” Amy asked.

“I tried to follow up on some leads last night. I really was in a ‘giving’ frame of mind, but I realized that I didn't really know what to give. I wanted to focus on giving, not getting—on creating abundance for the other person—but I didn't really know what to do. Was I supposed to cut my commission? Offer to paint their house?”

“There's plenty of painting to do here,” Cor said. “If that's what you really want to do. But I don't think a paintbrush is the missing piece.”

Josh fidgeted with his cup. “Then I guess I really don't know how to put these principles to work,” he said, exasperated. “I only have a few more days to make some serious progress, or what abundance I do have is going to vanish pretty quickly.” He sighed, and slumped more in his chair. “Everything I've done so far hasn't panned out.”

Including things with Kiera, he thought.

The night before had been a disaster. Kiera had taken the news of his work situation well. She'd been very supportive, and Josh was glad he'd finally told her. And that's when things went wrong.

Kiera had commented on how hard he'd been working, and how that was bound to pay off. But when Josh told her about Amy and Cor, her attitude had shifted. She'd been angry that Josh was wasting what little time he had—and with Amy of all people. They'd gone to bed without speaking, and Josh left early for work the next day.

No. Things were not going well.

The shop was silent. Cor finally spoke.

“I know what you need.”

“You do?” Josh said.

“Yep. A ride on the Cub.”

Josh looked at Cor skeptically. “Right. I've had enough rides on that thing to last me a lifetime.”

“Then let's start working on your next lifetime. Come on, Josh. We've got an appointment to keep.”

Josh watched the older man as he began to strap on his leather helmet and goggles.

This has gone far enough.

“No.”

Cor looked at him, but Josh could see no surprise in his eyes. Perhaps a hint of sadness, but nothing else. The old man waited.

“I've given days to this already,” Josh said. “I'm getting nowhere.”

Cor simply nodded. “Fair enough,” he finally said. “If I see any businesses that deliver overnight results without much effort, I'll let you know.”

Josh tried to read the old man, but his face was emotionless. And then gradually, he saw a hint of amusement flicker around Cor's eyes. Then he felt his own mouth twitch in the beginnings of a smile. And then they were both laughing.

“Fine,” Josh said. “Since I'm clearly an idiot, I may as well look like one.”

He climbed on the back of the Cub, and they pulled away.

This trip on the Cub was the longest Josh had experienced. And, officially, the most embarrassing. Cor had driven them right downtown. They'd actually driven right past Josh's office. He'd buried his face in Cor's back to hide, then realized that he looked even sillier, and finally settled for looking stoically dead ahead.

Cor pulled into a parking lot and stopped beside a parking valet in a tuxedo. The entrance to the lot was lined with exotic vehicles. Many of them Josh couldn't even name, but he was positive they were expensive.

The valet stared at Cor, in his leather cap and goggles, and Josh clinging to the back of the tiny bike. Josh waited to be told to turn around and get off the premises, but the valet said something that surprised Josh more than anything so far: “Good morning, Mr. Berringer. Nice to see you here. I assume you'd like to self park?”

“You're welcome to have the keys, Andrew,” Cor said, with a mischievous lilt to his voice.

“Of course,” Andrew replied.

“Over my dead body, son.” Cor laughed. “We'll just park over there in the cheap seats.” Cor pulled the bike up on the sidewalk near a Rolls Royce, then stepped off. Josh watched him, wondering not for the first time who Cor really was.

Minutes later they were standing at the back of a large room lined with velvet chairs. On the stage was a painting on an easel and to the right of that, a woman at a podium speaking into a microphone. As she spoke, people in the audience raised numbers to bid, and Josh watched with some amazement as the price rose, finally closing with a sale to a man in a row in front of them. As the woman wrapped up the session, she looked across the audience, and Josh could see her eyes twinkle in recognition as she spotted Cor.

Josh and Cor waited in their chairs as the room gradually emptied. Josh felt a tap on his shoulder and turned to find Amy behind him.

“I wasn't expecting to see you,” Josh said happily.

“I wouldn't miss this for the world,” Amy grinned.

The woman from the podium congratulated the buyer of the painting on the stage, then she walked towards them and embraced Cor.

“Melody,” Cor said. “I'd like you to meet my good friend Josh.”

She smiled and shook Josh's hand.

“Josh and I are in need of some insight,” Cor said. “We're hoping you might oblige us.”

“Of course,” Melody said. “Although I doubt you need any of my insight, Cor. Why don't you come backstage with me?”

Melody led them behind the curtains where Josh found himself not in a typical backstage theatre room, but a long series of locked cages with the glowing lights of alarm systems. Several security guards stood at various entrances. “I suppose you know by now what we do, Josh,” Melody said. “This is where we store items temporarily before they appear on the stage for auction. The actual long term storage is far more secure and remote, but this works quite well for the transition to the stage.”

Josh looked at the first cage, where a guard was covering the painting that had just been on stage. “That was quite a sum that man paid for the painting,” Josh commented.

“Actually, it was a little low. By about…” she paused, “I'd say 8 percent. He got a deal.”

A deal? The man had paid more for that painting than Josh had earned in his whole career. And that was a deal?

“How can you even…put a price on what something like that is worth?” Josh asked. “I wouldn't know where to start.”

“Melody's specialty is value,” Cor interjected. “That's why we're here.”

Melody smiled. “Flattery will get you anywhere, you old charmer,” she joked.

“Even into the safe room downstairs?”

“Well. Anywhere but there,” she said.

“I had to try,” he said.

“I wouldn't have expected anything less,” Melody said. Josh had the distinct feeling that she and Cor had exchanged this same banter many times.

“Cor's dying to see what we have in the secure vault in the basement.” She lowered her voice. “He might be the world's greatest salesman, but even he can't close that deal.” Melody turned and led them from the staging area into a long hall, then into an open reception area. “Welcome, Josh. We can talk in my office. Can I get you anything?” A receptionist took their orders, and Melody led them to a spacious office overlooking the city street.

“Josh,” Melody said, motioning him toward a comfortable couch in her office. Amy and Cor sat down, too. “Why don't you tell me what you've learned so far? Then I won't waste your time with things you already know.”

Josh doubted this woman wasted anyone's time, ever, but he thought back to Monday, and began to summarize what he learned from Cor, Amy, and their friends, using the days of the week as a guide to help him keep track. “Well, on Monday I learned about the Future Myth—that the purpose of goals isn't just to tell you where you're headed in the future, but what action you should take now.”

He looked to Melody, who simply nodded for him to continue.

“That made sense, but I was struggling with knowing what it was I should do. On Tuesday I learned about the Knowledge Myth, which says that we don't usually need to know more. We need to do more of what we already know. That was a big one for me.” Josh continued, recalling the events of the week. “But at that point, even though I realized I knew what to do, I also realized that I wasn't actually doing it. That's when I was introduced to the Failure Myth. I realized that I wasn't taking action because I saw failure as an endpoint—a mistake, instead of the path forward.

“Once I realized that, I was able to take more action, but my success rate was still pretty low, overall.” Josh paused as he thought, for the thousandth time that day, about his big meeting the next morning. “With one notable exception,” he added. “Then on Thursday I learned about the Abundance Myth, and that I had to give or create abundance for others in order to receive.” Now that he was running through myths in order, Josh could see just how carefully crafted the sequence actually was.

“But,” he looked at Cor who smiled. “I realized I didn't know what to give. And that brings us to…today.” On saying it, Josh felt a flutter of anxiety in his stomach. Tomorrow was Friday, the last day to put numbers on the board. If he didn't nail this meeting tomorrow, he wasn't going to make it.

“Is something wrong, Josh?” Melody asked.

Josh sighed. “It's okay. Just been one of those weeks.”

“Actually, to me it sounds like it's been a week a lot of people would kill for.”

Josh looked at her, and smiled weakly. I hope she's right, he thought.

“Well,” he said, “I do have a big opportunity tomorrow. I'm hoping you can help me prepare.”

“Well, let's see. It sounds like you're struggling with just what to give to your relationships to bring abundance to others.”

Josh shrugged. “That pretty much sums it up. Seems kind of silly, I know.”

“Not at all,” Melody said. “In fact, I may be biased, but I think there's nothing more important to learn.”

Josh's attention level went up a notch.

“What you need to give your clients, Josh, I can sum up in one word: Value.”

“Value?”

“Value. It's what everyone is looking for.”

Josh looked around, then through the glass wall of Melody's office at the luxurious waiting area beyond. Everything was of the finest quality. “If that's true, then you've clearly created some value for others,” he said. “I'm just not sure I understand how you've done it. You basically take other people's…abundance in the form of rare things…and exchange it for other people's…abundance in the form of money…and keep some of that abundance for yourself. It seems like you're…well, just getting.”

Melody looked up at the ceiling thoughtfully.

“You're missing another piece, Josh. The things that make you feel abundant all carry some form of value—your home or your car, for example—they have value to you.”

“But that's where I'm stuck…I understand that things have value. But I'm not sure that giving away a new television with every home sale is…I don't know. I guess it could work, but it doesn't feel like me. How do I give abundance to others?”

“It's the form of that abundance that may be tripping you up, Josh. Let's start with this: Abundance is a form of value. Does that make sense? Your shiny car has value to you, and therefore represents a form of abundance. Follow?”

“Right.”

“But that's the surface understanding that most people have about value. That value is simply more worth. It's more gallons for the dollar, more tomatoes per pound, getting the house sold for a smaller commission.

“That understanding, though, is what we call the Value Myth. The Value Myth is simple. It states that value is not, contrary to what almost everyone believes, just more of what we want or already have. It's not the baker's dozen, or the extra apple in the bushel. Those are forms of value, but they're the lowest forms.”

“There are forms of value?”

“Of course. There are three forms of value. Each represents a way of changing the value equation.”

“The value equation? This is sounding suspiciously like math.”

Melody laughed. “Not really. But the value equation is where everything starts. Each of us is constantly assessing the value of things. When we're shopping, dating, interacting—each time we're assessing what something is worth to us.

“Much of the time, this is a subconscious process. But it's there nonetheless, and it's particularly obvious at times when we're making large purchases, such as,” she paused and looked at Josh for effect, “a home.”

Josh smiled.

“Regardless, though,” Melody continued, “the equation is the same for everyone: it's the benefit divided by the cost. It's the amount of benefit you receive for the amount you pay. When you get a baker's dozen—say, thirteen donuts for the price of twelve—then you've received more benefit for the same price. Make sense?”

Josh thought for a moment. “Right. So when I get 50 percent off at a restaurant, the value doubles.”

“Exactly. It's the simple formula that we're all applying in one way or another each time we make a transaction. What the Value Myth says is that most people think that value is just about getting things cheaper, or getting more of something for less.

“The truth is that we can change value in three ways. First, we can change the price. It's the simplest and most common way to shift value. It's what you do when you drop a price on a home listing to attract more buyers. The price drop creates more house per dollar, which can mean more value.”

Josh nodded. That was one example he was very familiar with.

“The second way is to change the benefit. If you ask your client to paint her home, or remove some of the clutter, you're making the home seem more attractive—more beneficial—and therefore more valuable without changing the price.”

“I understand those things. But what does the myth teach?”

“It teaches us that there's more to value than those first two forms. It teaches that there's a third form of value that is far more powerful than the other two.”

Josh leaned forward, “What's that?”

“The Value Myth teaches us that the secret to increasing value to others lies not in more per dollar, but somewhere else. It lies in the unexpected.”

“The unexpected?”

“That's our third form of value. Unexpected value. Let me give you an example,” she said. “Did you buy your wife flowers on Valentine's Day this year?”

“Sure. I always do.” Josh looked sheepishly at Amy. “To be honest, I pick up whatever looks nice at the gas station on the corner on my way home.”

“And how does she react?”

Josh thought. “Happily, she's thankful.” His face clouded. “I guess she doesn't seem…well…overwhelmed or anything.”

“Why not?” Melody asked. “It seems like a husband bringing home flowers would be reason to be quite happy.”

Josh considered this for a moment. “I guess showing up once a year on the same day everybody else is doing the same thing isn't…that original.”

“Right. It's expected.”

Josh smiled. “And what's expected is the emotional equivalent of the regular dozen. There's no…extra.”

“Exactly! So, at the risk of turning romance into a business transaction, how would you increase the value of your next flower delivery? Let me give you a hint: Twice as many flowers is not the answer.”

Josh thought, gradually developing a deer in the headlights look.

“Amy. Rescue Josh, please?”

Amy laughed. “Josh. What's Kiera's favorite flower?”

“I don't kn—oh! Wait. It's…” he snapped his fingers trying to remember. “It's daffodils! She told me when we picked up funeral flowers once. She said they were much better than roses—” his face fell—“which is what I gave her last year.”

“Excellent. So, remembering her favorite flower would add value to the occasion. Can you take it a step further?”

Josh thought. The highest form of value lies in the unexpected. What was so predictable about Valentine's D—“I've got it! It's the date! I should bring the flowers on some day other than Valentine's Day. Because the only way I'd do that is if I actually cared and was thinking of her.”

“Bravo!”

“And I could have the flowers delivered with an anonymous note…”

“Sure,” said Melody. “That's the idea.”

“…and the note would say to get dressed up…”

“Right—”

“And to look outside, where there'd be a limo waiting, and…”

“Hey, Romeo,” Amy interrupted with a giggle. “I think you've grasped the idea.”

Josh blushed. “Sorry. But…yes. I think I get the idea. There are three ways to increase value: Lower the price, increase the expected benefit, or add an unexpected benefit. The last is the one that is the most memorable, creates the most loyalty, and generates the most referrals.”

“Wow,” said Cor. “I think he said that better than you ever have, Melody. I'd say that justifies a trip to the vault room downstairs, no?”

“Nice try, old man,” quipped Melody. “Not in your lifetime.”

Melody turned back to Josh. “Do you have any questions, Josh?” but when she turned back, Josh was already standing at Melody's office door. “No questions—I've got some daffodils to buy!”

And, he thought, some value to bring to a big prospect tomorrow.

Cor started to stand.

“No. Don't get up,” Josh said. “I'll take a taxi, thank you.” Then he grinned, and was gone.