Delivering Value

Value has a variety of meanings, but the most befitting definition of value in this context is: Everything received beyond expectation. For example, you buy a new car and hit the freeway, then find that it came with a full tank of petrol. Or, you paid to get your hair done and halfway through it, firm but gentle hands show up to give you a foot massage. Or you buy some Indomie noodles and get home to find a complimentary egg in the bag. You get my drift.

Unwarranted treats like all the above are a powerful way to turn ordinary interactions into memorable experiences for your customers. Not only do they hardly get forgotten (especially in the wonderful Nigerian marketplace, where the notion of customer service is crazy talk); but they also contribute immensely to word of mouth maketing. The power of word of mouth as a marketing tool is all too attractive to any business owner. Not only is it free, but it also leverages your business with potential customers who hear about your products and services from friends and family. People they know and trust.

The Nigerian business environment does not really encourage improvement of service standards. But if you're still reading this, chances are that service is important to you. More important than any other reason, is the fact that it can quite likely generate you additional revenue (which is the reason you went into business in the first place, remember?). In addition, it also adds unique character to your business, which is pivotal in building a strong brand.

Most small business owners are overwhelmed with the day to day activities involved in running a business. So the mention of additional tasks will probably be doomed to some to-do-list; which will most likely never get done. But the secret to delivering value consistently lies in one thing - systems. AT & T said it all too well: The System is the Solution

Real Case Example:

Pen & Canvas, is a specialist retailer of canvas prints. After identifying the Value Quartet, we listed expectations from all the varying wings, and thought of simple, cost effective ways we could deliver beyond this expectation. The diagram below shows the outcome of our brainstorm (click to view larger version)

Most interesting about this is how it really didnt require much more from the business, but had profound effects on our customers.

• Services like Sendible, Remember The Milk, Facebook Birthday Notifications, or simple calendar applications like Google Calendar can be setup to automatically remind you of or deliver birthday notifications (for free).

• Once we created the guides for taking care of your canvas, they simply had to sent via email (free-ly once again) and took approximately 10-25 secs per customer. etc etc.

• Affordable/ thoughtful gifts can easily be purchased an given to personnel. A clever trick involves scheduling this gift giving onto random dates, so the effort appears truly random.

These are just a few ideas. Look at this quartet as applies to your business and identify expectations, then work out what how you can deliver value and remain cost effective. Once you have a few ideas, be sure to try and find a way to automate the process.

Any comments or feedback, I’d love to hear it.