Thursday, January 28, 2010

Value

     That picture is my lunch bag that I take to work each day. It's going on a couple months of use so far and as you can see there's a couple holes and a tear at the top. Most people would throw this bag away and start using a new one. I'm getting my value out of this lunch bag. It might save me $1/year by only using my lunch bag a few times, but that's not the point. Customers demand value, and who's going to give it to them? Someone will, might as well make it you. Value does not mean low price, it's about the "bang for the buck". There is perceived value and actual value. Perceived value is crucial though.
      A good example of perceived value is the new Apple iPad that was announced yesterday. Many people(myself included) did not see any perceived value to it. That as an initial reaction is never good. However, there may be some actual value there. Getting the customer to realize that value is harder once the perceived value is diminished. Come out swinging, and just as important, stick to it. If you have sales or immediately change a price point, you diminish the value further. Avoid it if possible. Sometimes a mistake is made. I'll use Apple as an example here again. The original iPhone came out at a very high price point and after only a few months, they dropped the price. Since then, they've stuck to their price points whenever a new model comes out.
     Want another way to kill value, fees. Nothing turns me off more than seeing 'convenience fees'. I'll see a promotion for something that is a great value, but you see the fees and you realize they're trying to just make more money while trying to keep the value there. It doesn't work. Build that into the cost rather than add fees to your product or service.
     No customer is going to happily pay for something that has no value to them, so focus on building the value of your brand, product, or service.

-Trent

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