In today’s environment, we would be hard pressed to find anyone to argue against the idea that “time” is the most valuable commodity to most business people. (and for that matter, for most people, period). We are slammed with an endless “to do list” at work and at home. The demand on our time accelerates as we grow our companies, build new foundations, enter new markets, and introduce new products/services; and then do it all over again 12 months later.
If the value of time is accelerating, how are you monetizing the value of what you do for your customers? Do they realize you are not just simply selling a product or service (of which most are commodities anyway)?
We are seeing more and more companies/organizations taking on workloads for their customers to build value propositions. Grocery stores and restaurants will come to you now. No need to leave the house. Many businesses warehouse your inventory until you need it. Some provide on site “live in” technicians/ engineers in case the customer needs one asap. Many have in-house labs they allow their customers to use. The list is endless.
In our work, we see constant examples of companies saving their customers time and money, and not effectively taking credit for it. That means, they don’t put an actual value on what was saved for them. Here are some examples:
- Our warehousing of your inventory saved your company an average of $3500/month/year.
- Our engineer onsite at your location cut your downtime by 14% and cut your repair costs by $7,500 per line/per year.
Our mantra at Smart Advantage is,” if you don’t value what you do for the customer they won’t value it either.” Why should they?
Most of us have less and less control over time. Companies who can provide time savings for their customers will be delivering an all-important competitive advantage. First, they need to recognize the opportunity to do so. Then they need to help solve the time issue for customers, and finally, they must place a value on it. Tell the customer how you have saved them time. Monetize it.
Many organizations are so busy reeling in new customers they forget that their most important asset is their customer base. They neglect to tell existing customers how much they have done for them and where they provide cost and time saving measures. Companies who fail to do this leave their customers prey to the competition every day. A competitor may dangle a slightly lower price in front of your customer who doesn’t understand the value you bring: Poof, they are gone.
Make sure you take stock of the time needs of your customers. Create your own competitive advantage by solving it. Some companies will gladly pay more to get more time, some may buy more from you at a higher price if they value what you do to solve time issues.