Building Valuable Things
The term “value” gets thrown around a lot these days:
- “I just had a valuable conversation with so-and-so!”
- “I think she’s a real value-add to this company, we should hire her.”
- “Thank you ‘valued customer,’ we appreciate your business…”
In a monetary sense, value can be very objective - something costs what it costs. Yet in its true sense, the value of a thing is in the eye of its beholder - and as such can be very subjective. So how do we know something is truly valuable? How do we know what we are providing for others - whether it’s a product or service - is truly creating value for the person(s) on the other end?
How do we become value-driven?
Let’s start by defining “value:”
As a noun - value is typically used to refer to the relative worth, utility or importance of something. In raw terms - we see value as the non-monetary worth of something compared to its price. If price and value are aligned, a transaction is usually deemed fair. If price and value are misaligned a transaction turns one-sided, impacting the relationship between the buyer and seller. Many of our decisions (what we buy, how we spend our time and who we spend it with, etc.) are influenced by how we perceive their value.
We do this so much that we created another word to describe this decision-making process: Evaluation. When shopping for a product or service we start with a budget and then evaluate our options, choosing that which provides the most value for the money.
We also tend to use “value” as an adjective - referring to premium brands and products. Brands and products with an associated premium value can charge premium prices - so long as they continue to deliver the value they are known for.
So how do we ensure we’re creating real value? In this article we’ll walk you through how augustwenty works to understand what value a partner is looking for; what that value looks like throughout the process; and then design the solution so that it creates impactful value across the board.
1. We seek to understand:
Work hard in the beginning to not just understand what problem you’re trying to solve and whom you are solving it for, but to know what ultimately needs to be true at the end. From there we can work backwards and design how we will achieve a value-driven outcome together.
2. We learn how our offering impacts each layer of the value chain:
For a business, each decision they make must assess the value it creates at the technical, economic, service and social level, weighed against the price paid and compared with other alternatives in the marketplace.
Technical - how does what we create improve either your internal technology infrastructure or your external customer experience? Does what we offer allow you to break into new markets or set yourselves apart from the competition?
Economic - does what we’re building provide enough of a return to justify the cost of the investment? Driving factors in these decisions are based both on logical metrics and more sensitive human emotion. If what is provided gets the job done, but how it gets done leaves room for improvement, the buyer might question the price. If however we’re able to create an amazing customer experience, AND do the job at a high level, the idea of cost becomes less of an issue.
Service - how does the customer experience make you feel? An experience that has been meticulously designed and crafted to ensure the customer feels exactly the way you want them to is going to be highly valued. In certain industries, buyers will even pay premium prices - even if the offering is mediocre - because the customer experience is so great. Alternatively, if the experience merely consists of “you give us money - we give you things - you say thank you - we say bye bye,” - all we can say is yikes!
Social - Does your brand make people feel excited to interact with you? This is the Apple effect, or Lululemon, or Louis Vuitton effect. People are going to buy an offering because they need its function, but they pick yours because the logo and brand means something to them.
3. Design around VALUE:
While creating something (product or service) that solves a problem or meets the needs of your target market is important, a value-based approach to the design of both the offering and the customer experience is what will truly set you apart. To use Apple as an example, they design every possible element of their products. From their edgy commercials when the iPod first came out, to the purposeful design of their packaging, all the way down to the actual craftsmanship of the product itself (both software and hardware), EVERYTHING is designed to make the buyer feel they were getting something that is both different and better than anything else out there.
How can you design your product and/or your customer experience so that it signals to your customer that they are getting something of value?
In conclusion…
Building something of value involves more than just ensuring it’s of good quality. It requires being curious and asking the right questions; intentional design of both a solution that meets the needs of everyone involved - along with a customer experience like no other. It involves understanding what you might find valuable may not be what is valuable to the client. While it takes a bit more effort and sometimes getting out of your comfort zone, when you take a value-driven approach, what you build doesn’t just serve a function—it enriches lives, stands the test of time, and leaves a lasting impact.