Help me by delivering value

February 8th, 2009

 I think much is to be gained by looking at particular business scenarios through a different lens.

The perception that businesses need to be using in the current market is answering this question: How can I help my customer in a way that delivers additional value to them?

Not in a fake way, a legitimate way that improves the life of your customer.

Some of you may say hang on I’m an employee this doesn’t apply.  Yes it does, act as if your employer is your customer, this is going to make you infinitely more valuable.

For example:

  • Apartment Rentals, install an espresso machine & communicate the value, save your clients $40/week or $2000/year spent on espresso coffee, have many apartments? bundle all their utility accounts together and negotiate better discounting, give each new tenant a big hamper to welcome them in, follow up a bottle of wine after successful inspections.
  • Daily Paper, offer a daily exclusive section on your website with the access code printed in the daily paper,  offer the paper dropped off at the office by first thing in the morning or by mid morning break.
  • Knowledge  Worker/Employee? Take an extra hour a day for a week to figure ways to use technology to automate your office systems, upskill yourself, figure out tasks that do not add value and suggest you drop them, find out the key issues affecting your companies clients and ways you can help them, this will make yourself invaluable.
  • Contractor? Offer a monthly newsletter delivering relevant information for your clients, write up some documents saying how you prefer to work and how they can help you work more efficiently for them, ask your clients what their problems are maybe you can help or know someone that can.
  • Petrol Station, (see previous Monday Ideas post on petrol stations) offer $2 speed service, free espresso with fill up, lunch packs for the kids, paper, I could go on all day with this one.
  • Cable Tv, offer a bundle pack with netflix (or equivalent dvd rental service) get both and save $10/month, better deal on a second decoder, you choose movies, that is offer options of blockbuster movies and viewers can vote.

What services are you considering cutting?

How do you think they could improve under this view?

What can you do to help your customers?

(I would love to heard your responses in the comments.)

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One Response to “Help me by delivering value”

  1. Phil Osborne Says:

    I like your thinking BUT rather than thinking about services flip the thinking to be ‘of service’… this explains all the approaches you describe here and focuses the organisation / entrepreneur on their purpose for being… how can i help my customer today (and sometimes they willinclude selling them a box of stuff!)

    Keep it up – i’m loving it

    Phil



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