Why delivering value has to be your key priority

Entrepreneurs and small businesses must create strategies to add value for customers. Delivering value is the most important tactic for small businesses to attract customers and, most importantly, to keep them coming back.
Delivering consistent value to customers is the number one priority for all businesses. If you work hard to get them through the door, but don’t follow up with continuing to adapt for their needs, then they will go somewhere else. In many ways, it’s that simple for all business sectors.
Stand out in the marketplace
Value added customer service increases brand awareness and differentiates your company’s place in a crowded marketplace. Your business plan should always include clear strategies for how you are going to achieve this. Here are some ways to add and deliver value.
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Think from your customer’s perspective
To truly add value, you must move into your customer’s mindset to see your business, product or service through their eyes. Think about your target market and how your service or product benefits them. What kinds of problems does it solve and how does it help them to live better, or do their job better?
It’s common for businesses to miss out on customer retention by focusing solely on extra features rather than benefits. By shifting focus to providing products and services for your customers’ needs means you will be delivering value that will positively affect the future of your business.
A good way to get into your customer mindset is to create customer personas. This can help to provide insights into who your customers are today and who they will be in the future. It will help you to create a strategy for delivering value.
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Work consistently on customer satisfaction
Whether you agree that the customer is always right or not, not delivering customer satisfaction will send them elsewhere. Collecting feedback by using online surveys regularly helps you truly understand how your customers are thinking about your products or services.
It’s also a good way to see where your brand is fitting in. You can use all kinds of survey tools, and there are plenty of high-profile free programmes available. Check out platforms like Survey Monkey or KwikSurveys. These give you very easy to use templates so that you can get feedback and create a workable action plan.
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Utilise marketing models within your strategy
When developing your strategy for adding and delivering value, look at using popular marketing models. These can give some shape to your strategy. SMEs can use all kinds of tools including SWOT Analysis to help develop a brand statement, define continuous USPs and forecast customer needs based on general market trends.
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Think about providing a memorable experience for customers
Businesses and companies that offer run-of-the-mill customer experiences tend to be forgotten. Creating an unforgettable experience for your customers mean that your business will benefit from positive online reviews, higher customer retention rates and natural word of mouth.
When crafting a strategy, you must look at all the stages of your business. This means starting at the first lead capture right through to post-purchase communication. By thoughtfully crafting a customer experience, you can continue to develop relationships with them. This will help you continuously deliver value that matters to them and keep them coming back.
You’re looking to find a certain unexpected value that can’t be sold. This could include personalised service, real attention to detail and addressing problems when they arise.
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Don’t dismiss free resources
Free resources are a useful way to deliver added value and show off your company’s ability to deliver extra to your customers. These could be PDFs, survey platforms and general online information. Just because something is free doesn’t mean it’s not useful.
Consider offering freebies to your customers too. You could create a customised sign up form to encourage visitors your website to sign up and receive your newsletters featuring promotions and offers, for example. However, remember that if you are offering something for free, it still has to be relevant to your company and your brand.
Overall, keep the idea of delivering value to your customers front and centre in your ongoing strategic planning for your company’s future.