Are You Providing Customers True Value?

My nearly thirty-year career has been spent being a part of, or running, a smaller business taking on the “big guys” in highly commoditized competitive industries. In nearly every industry, our larger competitors grabbed market share based on pricing - in which they positioned as a true value to their customers. As the cliche goes, you often “get what you pay for.” In every case over my career when a business delivers real value to a prospect or a client, deeply discounted pricing was rarely seen as value.

I had Jay Baer come and speak at a user conference to share his insights on his book, “Youtility: Why Smart Marketing is About Help not Hype.” Over the last ten tears, I’ve seen big shifts in how businesses provide value to customers. The most successful brands, small and big, are obsessed with understanding their customer and what value can they provide them. While Amazon has become the go-to for discounted merchandise, their obsession on their customers is the strategy behind their explosive growth and will ultimately kill traditional retail - primarily because leadership at traditional retail is a disaster. Have you walked into a Macy’s lately?

As a business leader, do you really know what value you bring to your customers? Have you asked them? In my experience, the speed in which competition can bring product to market has quickly commoditized many B2B and B2C marketplaces. Those who choose to compete on “price and features” find it difficult to sustain a business. The ones who maintain loyal customers don’t always win on price. They win by providing real value for their customers.