“What does the customer consider value?” — Peter Drucker
Value creation in marketing and sales is a fundamental issue that companies must address for long-term success. From what I’ve observed in my consulting practice, marketing and sales are typically separate silos. The all-too-common debate between the two boils down to this: Marketing argues for more investment in the brand, while sales wants more feet on the street. When there is no reliable way to tell which party is right, the one with the most clout wins the debate or the part of the business the CEO comes from is the deciding factor. An ideal solution to this problem is a process approach because it examines all the activities that produce a certain result—namely, winning a customer.
Marketing and sales people are challenged to see that the things they do and their respective inputs and outputs depend on one another.
Discovering what the customer values means answering questions, such as: What is it that the customer really wants from our product or service? Often times, companies seem to confuse customer satisfaction with customer value. They forget that people drop services they are satisfied with all the time if they find something of greater value. What do your customers value about your business?