Value . . . Value . . . Value
You have a business. You know how great the product or service you offer is. You also project how much your sales should be and how much your business can grow.
Those sales or that growth won’t occur unless your prospects and customers see . . .
the value your products or services have for them
or,
the value of purchasing from your company and having you as their supplier is significantly better than purchasing from any of your competitors.
How Important is Value?
The company whose product or service is much better than anyone else’s is truly in a unique position. A steady stream of prospects and customers will line up at their door to get what they have. Sales will continue to be made even if the company has poor customer service and is not thought of highly by the people buying from them.
Those instances where a company has a product or service like this are very rare. Normally there is little difference between the product or service similar companies offer. So a company has to distinguish itself in a different manner. Otherwise, the governing factor is price and the company offering the lowest price today gets the sale.
The easiest way for a company to distinguish itself is by providing more value than its competitors. The prospect or customer buys because they want to experience how the company treats them.
Two Ways to Build Value
How can you provide exceptional value to your prospects or customers? Value that makes you stand out and your competitors don’t offer. There are different ways. Let me just mention 2.
First, in the service you supply after the sale. Provide not only the best service your customer has ever experienced. Make sure It also is far better than that provided by any of your competitors.
Remember the classic stories from the early days of Federal Express. It seemed their employees routinely went out of their way to take care of their customers. One classic is of the driver who drove through an unbelievable snow storm to deliver a package on time. No other vehicles were on the road. Yet nothing could stop the driver from making the delivery on time.
The second is the advice and help you provide. If you sell a product, you not only show your customer how to set it up, you also show them how to use it to get the most productivity out of it. If you sell a service, you spend extra time with your customer’s people to make sure they get the most out of it. You and your people may also assist them in areas where you have expertise even though they have not asked for help there.
A challenge you may have is maintaining this level of value you provide to your customers and prospects. Small companies don’t have a problem. Each employee is trained by the boss. The boss’s dedication to value is obvious and that is instilled in the employee.
As companies grow and more employees are hired, training tends to become laxer. Customer care training is one of the first to diminish. This has to be avoided.
Gauge the value you are providing your prospects and customers. If you are not providing the best, take the steps to correct where you are falling short. Your payback will be an increase in sales and growth in your company.
