Customer value
CUSTOMER PERCEIVED VALUE
How do you define value? Can you measure it? What are your products and services actually worth to customers? Remarkably few companies in business markets are able to answer those questions. And yet the ability to pinpoint the value of a product or service for one’s customer has never been more important. The value itself may have little or nothing to do with the product’s market price – it depends on the product’s ability to satisfy customer needs or requirements. To be successful, companies need useful and practical ways to capture customer needs, measure how well they’re satisfying those needs compared to the competition, and build action plans based on what customers value to win in the marketplace.
CREATING A VALUE
Companies of all sizes and in varying industries are struggling to:
- gain a deeper understanding of and agreement on precisely what customers value
- create methods of measuring the value they offer compared to the competition
- provide the best value to customers, to employees, and to shareholders; and then establish the connection among these three imperatives
- increase market share and loyalty while improving profitability.
Businesses that know what customers value, know how to deliver this value better than competitors, and know importance of engaging with customers – achieve competitive advantage, better business results and increase shareholder value.
COMMUNICATING CUSTOMER VALUE
Perceived customer value is a marketing and branding related concept that points out that success of a product is largely based on whether customers believe it can satisfy their needs. To influence value perceptions, companies try to deliver messages that research indicates should create the desire sense of value with customers. Some companies make low costs a priority. This is a simple message strategy as it only requires regular communication of low cost benefits and delivery on that commitment. Others express messages such as best quality, best service, unique features or environmentally friendly. To influence the customer value perception, marketing messages must be consistent and delivered through the right media.
RESEARCHING CUSTOMER’S MIND
What are you doing to build a brand that will stand out from your competitors and get your customers raving about you? Most companies do not take the time to annually review what they want their brand to say, how to differentiate their brand from competitors, how customers are perceiving their brand, or take the action oriented steps to build a brand that people will talk about. How about you?
Marketers deliver advertising messages with various intents and through various media. Feedback from your customers is critical to understand how certain types of customers will respond to certain messages in those media. Knowing what customers think and want gives you a better ability to influence them with your messages.
CUSTOMER VALUE CREATION
Build your communication with customers by focusing on what is valuable for them. Give them no less than best – not more than is expected.