Forgetting the dictionary for a moment (although I AM a fan of dictionary.com on Facebook), I think of the term value as it relates to business in a few different ways.
One way harkens back to my old days in the promotion marketing business, when we would discuss added-value with clients. That is, to provide a little something extra with a product or service to get customers to purchase yours instead of theirs. Like getting a toy in a cereal box…
Another way of looking at value is in the context of the value proposition of a company. What are the unique attributes that differentiate your company from your competitors and will ring true in the minds (and possibly even hearts) of your customers?
Value-based pricing is another way that businesses and marketers in particular utilize the term “value.” Do you always get what you pay for? Well, when you purchase a Toyota for $25k, you probably do. But when you buy a Chevy for the same price, do you? Surely quality and supply and demand have a lot to do with this form of value.
And in the service business, value-based pricing takes on an even more interesting role as we seek to position companies based on price, all the while considering how to derive the best upside (profit) with that price while not driving our best prospects away. On the flip side, there are those who have always chosen to charge a price that they can live with – typically on the low-end – regardless of how much the service may be worth in the open marketplace. If you’re in the services industry, I’m sure you can appreciate how this phenomenon is hurting your business in the down economy, as even the largest corporations are shopping and negotiating harder than ever.
Looking for the greatest value…
Value may indeed be in the mind of the purchaser, but it is also something that we are working harder to prove day in and day out. Surely, it is something that is earned, but when pitching business in this day in age, what does one do?
Well, for better or for worse, Colloquy is redefining value. We’re creating a set of services for micro and small business that enables them to tap into resources that have not been available to them in the past. Featuring the insights of professionals with over 15 years of experience each in their respective fields, at a fraction of the cost of what these services used to be worth on the open market.
The cold hard facts being that the economy has not rebounded, and although business still spends, they do so with a much sharper pencil in hand. The options for us being to continue to ride on our high horse and use value-based pricing, OR to simply redefine what true value is. Maybe once and for all.
Within the next week, we’ll launch our new services. They will be fixed scope, fixed price. Nothing is on sale. We are not compromising our values. We have simply found a way to offer services that are incredibly fair for both parties. Colloquy makes a fair profit, and the client gets an incredible deliverable.
Just how valuable is that?