10 Questions to Added Value
Adding value and satisfying customer needs are cornerstones of good business.Yet, the perceptions about the value you provide and what customers actual perceive your value can be eye opening.
Here’s a list of ten questions – focusing outward toward the customer. Take a shot at answering these off the top of your head, and then write a position around each question.
1. How do you ease your customer’s pain?
One way to look at it is that customers buy when you ease their pain. To ease the pain you need to understand what causes pain to your customer and what motivates someone to buy – including having an understanding of what’s important further up the food chain -- to your customers’ customer?
Have you lost any customers in the past year? Have you an understanding about why they went away and where they went?
Often, customers perceive the value of your business much differently. Well-crafted customer interviews – to current, past and potential customers give provide enough data to create an action plan to grow your business.
2. What are the key traits of your current customers?
Think of your best customers. Off the top of your head, are they likely to be the best customers next year as well?
Do you understand how they are perceived in the market? Gain knowledge about your customer’s top customers, and you’ll be heading towards a better understanding of what’s truly important to the people that buy.
3. What metrics do you use to measure the current health of your business?
This can be answered in different ways – if you’re after growth, the measures obviously should include year over year revenue growth (or decrease).
Reconsider if the metrics you are using to measure your performance are the right ones – specifically if they help add value to your customer or drive improved efficiencies. Once you have your benchmarks, in place, do you measure the trends of performance over time? Post these metrics for all employees to see (yes, even if it’s a small shop) – and the established goals for continuous improvement.
Everyone should understand the goals and expectations.
Business metrics have a double value in that they can be used as part of a sales presentation to help gain new business. During an introductory presentation of your company to a perspective client, add a few slides that give an indication of your performance. Which would have a bigger impact – a general statement that that “we are excellent at on time delivery” or a graph that showed on time delivery history in excess of 95% for the past 12 consecutive months?
4. How are you different?
Do you truly understand what motivates someone to cut an order to you and not someone else?
You may truly have a better product, offer better support, but perceptions are reality. Customers vote for the best supplier with their dollars – do you understand what your customers are doing and how they are positioning themselves in your market? Markets do not stand still – if you are not working to position your company, you can be assured the competition is positioning you.
5. What changes are occurring in your business that seem inevitable?
Not just the massive change-waves (which, believe it or not, most often actually occur quite slowly), but the more subtle changes as well – such as your best customer paring down their vendor base, consolidating heir supplier base, or moving to web based purchasing. These can be opportunities to expand what your value.
6. How much should you be charging for your services?
OK, this is a very sensitive subject, and in the age of continuous improvement costs should be going down over time. But, If the market leader were to raise prices, would others follow?
Do you have an understanding if you are truly getting the right value for what you provide?
7. How do you spot opportunities with your current customers?
While it’s important to listen to customers articulate needs, there’s also powerful opportunity in being close to your served markets that you can anticipate ways to add value.
Do you have a systematic approach to spotting new opportunities? Here again, candid interviews can help provide information that you can turn into action.
8. How do you spot opportunities to expand the customer base?
Are their other markets that could benefit from what you bring to the table?
Have you taken any steps to identify others that can benefit from what you do beyond “the usual suspects?”
9. Have you given thought to strategic alliances that can help you get where you want to go?
Are your desires to expand your business unfulfilled because your customers are not willing to let you play a greater role in their business?
The thought of forming alliances usually elicits strong feelings of risk; but it may be the right path for growth. Alliances can be as simple as an agreement to share leads, mailing lists, or information on supply chains.
Also, consider what would happen if a major competitor formed an alliance?
Concerned about alliances? Third party consultants are often used if an organization wants to test the waters without identifying
10. How can you increase your credibility and increase market awareness of your business?
Have you given thought to establish an effective communication plan? Do you measure the response to your investment in building your brand?
This can help you prioritize where to invest to take your business in the direction you want.
Putting it all together
Your perceptions about what you provide and how customers actual value your company are more than eye opening – it is critical to your health to sustain ongoing operations and achieve your ultimate objectives.
Accurate and unbiased information letting you know what’s really of value is the key to giving you a true advantage.
posted by Bizonomics @ 9:09 AM
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