The key driver of all strategic decision-making is value… or at least it should be!

Too often organizations will make decisions based solely on what they can get out of something (an event, a training opportunity, networking, a new market, etc.) rather than what they can bring to it. Decision-makers should ask, “What kind of value can I bring?” first and then let the return payout follow from there.

Value as a Key Principle

The most important principle in business is bringing value to the room.

Whether the “room” is a training seminar, networking space, interaction with a colleague, nurturing a new lead, managing customer relationships, hosting an industry event, sponsoring a community outreach effort, creating digital content, forming an organizational partnership, expanding to a new market, or anything else, providing value should be at the forefront of the agenda.

Leadership, key decision-makers, and innovators should ask questions like:

• How do we bring value to the room?
• What kind of value do we bring to the room?
• How much value will we bring to the room?
• How do we bring more value to the room?
• What do we arrive expecting to contribute to help deliver value?
• How does this add value toward achieving our mission?
• What does value look like to us in return?

The goal should be to give and then receive in a way that creates value for both your company and whoever else is involved, be it customers, colleagues, other organizations, or the community. Where value doesn’t exist on both sides of the question it’s not worth pursuing because asking for business without being willing to give anything in return will never be a successful strategy, but an organization can’t just give away their offerings for free either.

Keep in mind, “value” here means more than just revenue to a company. You need to consider all types of value when determining if an opportunity is worth pursuing. This can include value in the form of employee engagement, strengthened vendor relationships, customer loyalty, brand recognition, and resiliency, among others. This central theme of focusing on value applies to every kind of business situation at all levels, all of which roll up to overall strategic planning.

How to Provide Value

Value, in some form, needs to be present in both the giving and the receiving. But how do you determine what’s most valuable to your audience? The key is in understanding your audience. You can’t effectively deliver value if you don’t know what’s most valuable to them specifically.

Uncovering what your audience values requires a balance between analyzing the data and leaning on your people. So often organizations dive deep into market data and analytics only to forget this second critical component. And yet, the power of people cannot be underestimated because it’s the organization’s people that can provide the reasoning, institutional knowledge, and forward-looking insights that are so instrumental in understanding the how/where/what/why/when of providing value to your audience.

Real-World Implications

Taking a value-first approach helps to avoid what Seth Godin calls “strategy myopia,” which he defines as prioritizing what is proven and easily measurable over that which is new and innovative, even when the new has the potential to be far more successful. He highlights numerous business examples where major companies passed on opportunities to innovate because, instead of addressing their audience’s evolving needs, they chose to stick with doing what they had always done and assumed that their audience would continue to follow them. In each instance, the company failed to offer value in a way that was meaningful to their audience over time and faded into obsolescence when a competitor did. He summarizes in saying, “Polishing yesterday’s work isn’t useful if the world is in flux. When we focus on improving the efficiency of our current plan, we inevitably miss the opportunity to develop a new strategy in response to new conditions.” The latter helps an organization to be more resilient, helping to grow sustainable revenue over time.

Because your audience’s needs are always changing, focusing on delivering value that meets those changing needs means your organization will be more agile because it will be more forward-looking. This not only sets an organization up to pivot more quickly in times of rapid change but also in response to sudden market disruptions. Simply put, focusing on serving a buyer’s needs first rather than making a product or offering a service and then looking for a buyer who needs or wants it later, will always be a more successful strategy.

When you need help with your strategic direction and business planning, please reach out for a free consultation! Every day we help B2B organizations grow profitable revenue to achieve their business goals. Our approach across developing a strategic marketing framework, implementing a client development program, preparing an integrated marketing plan, and creating a sales and distribution strategy is uniquely tailored to your distinct business needs to ensure success. Find out more today!