The Seven Challenges of Value

The Seven Challenges of Value:rom Axia Value Solutions by admin
Challenge # 1: Understanding just what value is.
Value from whose perspective?
This always seemed to me to be such a simple thing – a bit like defining quality!  Most people define quality – and value – from their own perspective.  I know what great value looks like to me, but it is personal.  My partner finds some of the things I value very strange indeed!  Customers are just the same.  They define value from their perspective too.
So there you have it.  We define value from our own point of view and our customers define it from theirs.  So what do you think the chances are of both definitions being the same?  That’s it.  Zero.  Zilch and pretty much next to none.  And when you try to sell your view of value to people who take a somewhat different view the end result is confusion.  Especially if your customer isn’t quite sure what value is either.
So your customers understand value do they?
It’s all very well selling on the basis of value, but what happens if your customer has only ever really thought of value in terms of low price?  Time for some education.  And to do that you need to be able to calculate just what sort of an impact your solution might have on the customers’ business and put together a compelling case.
The Value Triad^©
To help, we have developed The Value Triad^© as a means of understanding value.  It has two functional, tangible elements – revenue gain and cost reduction, and one intangible, but extremely important element which we call Emotional Contribution.
The first two are, relatively, easy to understand.  How much additional revenue, or cost reduction will your solution deliver to the customer when compared to the alternatives the customer has available.  For example, if your solution can be installed and up and running a month ahead of your competitors, what’s that worth to the customer – in additional revenue or cost reduction terms.
Emotional contribution is something else.  Much more difficult to put a number on but no less important.  In fact, sometimes more important.  Much more.  It’s to do with the difficult to measure stuff like trust, confidence, risk reduction, brand image, feeling like you’re the people they want to do business with.  Not easy to measure, but all too easy to forget.  So why do you sometimes pay more for things than you have to? Or buy from one store when the store down the road does the same stuff for less? Because the store is nicer, the staff are better informed, they treat you like a real person not an interruption to their day, you recognise the name over the door and it says good things to you.  And guess what?  B2B is really no different. No matter what they try to tell you!
So what now?
What now? Get out there and ask your customers what they really value.  Ask your existing customers why they buy from you. Really. You will be amazed at what they tell you, and often the answers are very different from what you would expect – but then that’s you defining value from your point of view and your customers defining it from theirs.
Ask your target customers what value looks like from their point of view.  That way you’ll be providing solutions that deliver the value the customer wants, not the value you think the customer wants.
At Axia Value Solutions we help our clients defend and grow their margins and build profitability.  We do this by helping them to reach a deeper understanding of the value of the solutions they deliver to their customers and through that understanding enable them to differentiate, price and communicate their offer increasingly effectively.
Axia Value Solutions – Value through Understanding
For more information contact Mike and Harry at  info@axiavalue.com or click on the “Let’s Talk” link on the website www.axiavalue.com