Every client we work with invests significant time and resources to help their sales and marketing teams present and sell value to current and prospective customers. They develop Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) models, and other tools to demonstrate how their product and solutions deliver value in terms of cost reductions and efficiencies. Procurement teams then rigorously evaluate vendors and run their own total cost-of-ownership models to ensure that rational, quantifiable criteria around price and performance shape their analyses.
Quantifying the elements of value that don’t fit nicely into a TCO or other models, has traditionally been difficult. So how can we identify these additional elements of value, and develop an approach to extract and present in our value proposition to customers?
The March-April issue of The Harvard Business Review features an article that suggests that meeting Procurement’s quantifiable criteria is table stakes. As B2B offerings become ever more commoditized, the subjective, sometimes quite personal concerns that business customers bring to the purchase process are increasingly important . Indeed, HBR research shows that with some purchases, considerations such as whether a product can enhance the buyer’s reputation or reduce anxiety play a large role. Recognizing the full range of both rational and emotional factors behind business purchases — and tailoring the value proposition accordingly — is critical to avoiding the commodity trap . Click on the this link to read more on The B2B Elements of Value