Creating Value Streams with a focus on the Customer and Business Results

Delivering value to a customer or business is creating reasons for them to choose your product or service, even though they have other options. It’s showing the customer the benefits and advantages of buying from you, beyond price or quality. Delivering value to the customer means knowing what they need, want and expect, and offering solutions that satisfy or exceed that. This involves creating a positive customer experience across the entire purchasing journey, from attraction to retention.

The catalysts between the customer’s perception and how useful a delivery is for their activities and the company’s business are the factors that influence how the customer evaluates the value received. For it is necessary to have effective communication with the customer, which involves understanding their needs, expectations and desires, and clearly transmitting the value of the solution offered, highlighting its benefits and differentiators.

Meanwhile, the personalization of the offer, which consists of adapting the product or service to the customer’s profile, preferences and objectives, creating a unique and relevant value proposition for them.

And, the quality of service, which refers to the way the customer is treated at all stages of the purchasing journey, from the first contact to after-sales. A friendly, agile, resolute and proactive service can increase customer trust and loyalty. Also, the delivery of continuous value, which implies maintaining a lasting relationship with the customer, offering them support, assistance, guidance and new solutions that add value to their business and solve their problems.

These catalysts items can help create a positive customer perception of the value delivered, generating satisfaction, loyalty and recommendation. Thus, they contribute to the success of the business and to the continuous improvement of value delivery.

Usefulness Indicators

The indicators for determining the usefulness of delivering value may vary depending on the type of business and the product or service offered. Some general pointers:

1. Customer Satisfaction: Measuring customer satisfaction can help determine whether value is being delivered effectively. This can be done through customer satisfaction surveys, feedback analysis and other methods.
2. Customer Retention Rate: Customer retention rate can indicate whether customers are finding value in your product or service in the long term.
3. Conversion Rate: Conversion rate can show whether customers are seeing enough value in your product or service to make a purchase.
4. Average Usage Time: For digital products or services, average usage time can indicate how much value users are finding in the product.

5. Net Promoter Score (NPS): NPS is a measure of customers’ willingness to recommend your product or service to others, which can be a strong indicator of perceived value.

6. Lifetime Value (LTV): LTV is a prediction of the net profit attributed to the entire future relationship with a customer.

The specific metrics you use should be aligned with your business goals and your customers’ needs. LTV is the one most important.

Moreover, the customer relationship factors can influence the decision to pivot or not to a new strategy. Signs that should be monitored to avoid it, like churn rate, feedback and loyalty.

The customer retention or churn rate: if customers are stopping using your product or service, this could be a sign that they are not satisfied with the value it offers or that there are better alternatives on the market.

Customer feedback: If customers are expressing dissatisfaction, frustration, confusion or disinterest in your product or service, this may indicate that there is a disconnect between their expectations and their experiences.

Customer loyalty or engagement: if customers are buying more, using more, recommending more or defending your product or service more, this can show that they are satisfied and that they see value in your offer.

These factors can help you evaluate whether your product or service is solving a real problem for your customers, whether it is meeting their needs and preferences, and whether it is differentiating itself from the competition. If these factors are negative or low, it may indicate that you need to pivot your strategy and look for a new value proposition, a new market segment, a new distribution channel, a new revenue model or any other significant change in your model. of business. If these factors are positive or high, it may suggest that you are on the right track and that you can continue to improve your product or service based on data and feedback from your customers.

How to reconcile customer value and business value

One way to reconcile customer value and business value is to use the value map tool, which consists of a four-quadrant matrix that relates what the customer wants and what the business offers. The value map allows you to identify the following possibilities:

• Value adjustment: when what the customer wants and what the business offers are aligned, there is a value adjustment, which is the ideal scenario. In this case, the business must focus on maintaining this fit and exploring ways to increase the value perceived by the customer and the value generated by the business.
  • Excess value: when the business offers more than the customer wants, there is an excess value, which can represent a waste of resources and an opportunity to reduce costs or simplify the offer. In this case, the business must evaluate whether the extra attributes of the product or service are really necessary or whether they can be eliminated or replaced with others more suited to the customer’s preferences.
  • Lack of value: when the business offers less than what the customer wants, there is a lack of value, which can result in dissatisfaction, complaints, loss of customers or low competitiveness. In this case, the business must look for ways to improve its offer, adding or modifying attributes that meet customer expectations and needs.
  • Misinterpretation of value: when what the customer wants and what the business offers are different, there is a misinterpretation of value, which may indicate a failure in communication, segmentation, research or delivery of the product or service. In this case, the business must review its strategy and better understand its target audience, its market, its positioning and its differentiators.

The value map is a dynamic and iterative tool, which must be constantly updated based on customer feedback and changes in the environment. This way, the business can adapt to market demands and seek alignment between value for the customer and value for the business.

How to create customer and business-focused value streams

To create value streams that generate value for both the customer and the business, it is necessary to keep some important aspects in mind:

• The team must be multidisciplinary, with professionals from different areas and skills, who can contribute to delivering value to the customer and the business. The team must also have autonomy and responsibility to make decisions and solve problems.
  • The work structure must be agile, flexible and adaptable, with lean processes, short cycles, constant feedback and continuous improvement. The structure must also encourage collaboration, communication and learning between team members and other stakeholders.
  • The focus must be on the customer, understanding their pain, needs, desires and expectations. To achieve this, it is essential to research, observe, interview and test with customers, seeking to validate the hypotheses and proposed solutions. Focusing on the customer also implies offering a positive experience that exceeds their expectations and generates loyalty and recommendations.
  • The value must be for the business, generating revenue, profit, growth and competitive advantage. To do this, it is necessary to define indicators and metrics that allow measuring the impact and return of the actions carried out. Business value also involves optimizing resources, reducing costs, eliminating waste and increasing efficiency and quality.

In this way, by creating value streams that are focused on the customer and the business, the entrepreneur can achieve alignment between the company’s objectives and market demands, creating solutions that generate shared and sustainable value.