Are customers aware of value you provide? They need to be

My role in writing this column is to generate interest and keep you reading to the end. I want to keep you interested — not necessarily in agreement, but interested. There needs to be some level of value for the reader.

As a starting point, I accomplish this by being aware of topics impacting businesses today. I provide insights to help you manage your organization more effectively.

Your organization sells a product or service and your job is to provide superior value to your customer in relation to your competitors. But you must get their interest first. Once you have their interest, you must deliver the value to keep them.

To achieve this simple-sounding concept a few fundamentals are required.

You must provide something people will need, use and ideally require more of in the future. Any good or service fits this description.

However, you must also provide something your competitors do not. This “something” must be seen as a strong enough draw to your solution compared to others. You might provide a feature that customers value or the efficiency of your operation enables you to offer a lower price point.

The aspect of your product or service that creates value for your customers will create differentiation from competitors and a preference that leads to repeat business.

The measure of advantage you are providing to your customer has to help them get their job done faster, more efficiently or at a lower cost compared to using your competitor’s product or service.

Do you actually know the true value you provide?

This is where the challenge of positioning yourself becomes a critical issue to resolve. If you don’t know which concept of value your primary customer expects, then you run the risk of focusing on an attribute that is not the main reason your product or service is purchased.

How can you then deliver messaging to prompt customers to learn more and purchase your product? If you don’t know what value you provide, you cannot create effective messaging.

To accomplish both interest and impact there are three primary steps to follow.

First, determine the value that sets you apart from competitors.

You must take an outside-in approach. This means looking at your product or service from a customer’s perspective and knowing how your offering stacks up against the competition. You can rank the attributes important to a customer and then, as objectively as possible, rank your offering against each of your main competitors using these factors. Use a five or ten-point scale so you can determine an aggregate score. (In my work as a management consultant I often see how this experience provides “aha” moments and determines your actual differentiator.)

Second, you have to verify you have delivered on at least one of the factors where you scored highest against competitors. If you haven’t scored highest, you need to dive deeper into something special you deliver that you may have glossed over initially. This evidence will guide the story you want to tell.

For example, if you think your customer service experience exceeds the industry norms then this is a key point to reinforce. However, don’t just say you have great customer service unless you can back it up; any competitor can easily say the same thing. This is also known as the “show, don’t tell” approach to messaging.

Third, you have to get your message in front of customers. You will not garner long-term success if your product or the value it provides is unknown to customers. Craft your message as if you are having a one-to-one conversation, even though many people will see or hear the ad. Select a medium where you can be prominent with your messaging and distinct from competitors.

This approach aligns with the concept of “form follows function.” That is, know what you are building and then determine how it looks and is structured.

Leading companies know determining their value is Step 1 and then telling people about the value in a unique or special way is how you initially get noticed. The quality of your product or service will then keep your customer coming back. And a long-term profitable revenue business is a model everyone should seek.

If I kept you reading and interested to this point then I have been successful and provided value. Is your company interesting and successful?

Tim’s bits: Winning game plans deliver superior profitability and sales growth. Customers acknowledge this by continuing to buy from the companies that deliver superior value. Align all your activities and you will create a culture that thrives on delivering value your customers want and competitors don’t provide.

Tim Kist is a certified management consultant, authorized by law, and a Fellow of the Institute of Certified Management Consultants of Manitoba.

tim@tk3consulting.ca