Strategic Coach Resources

Pinning down value creation.

There’s a great deal of talk about value creation lately. Business journals and speakers talk about it as a cure-all, but few will tell you how to actually do it. So this month we’re going to examine how you can expand The Freedom of Value, your freedom to create increased value for more and more individuals without the dangers of commoditization.

The commodity showdown.

We live in the age of a truly global marketplace. The days of “Look for the union label” loyalty are long-gone. Most consumers are more interested in getting what they want as quickly and as cheaply as possible. Advances like the Internet keep buyers informed about their options, and let them buy from anyone, anywhere, anytime. If you’re in the business of selling a product or service, chances are you’ve felt the pressure of having your business reduced to a commodity. When everything gets diminished to a question of price, your existence is focused on surviving. That doesn’t leave much room for creativity, and it certainly isn’t a fun way to live.

Commoditization: exit, straight ahead.

To escape commoditization, you have to find a way to make money that’s outside of its reaches. With our clients, we do this by helping them establish a value-creation process based on their wisdom, not their products or services. Conventional thinking says, “But products and services are what make you money.” Typically, yes. But typical businesses are also subject to commoditization. The reason your long-term clients are with you, stay with you, and refer you goes far beyond the things you sell them. Your best clients say great things about you because of the experience of working with you – the wisdom that you bring to the exchange. That wisdom has three aspects to it.

Leadership — providing direction.

In business, the problem is never the problem. Most often, the problem is that people don’t even know how to think about the problem. When you’re operating from a base of expertise, and are in a rejuvenated, focused state of mind, you can easily pick up on where your clients need to go next. It’s as if they present you with their own solution. This solution is all they wanted from you, as it allows them to consolidate their energies and act with a feeling of clarity.

Relationship — providing confidence.

We all get paid in this life to handle someone else’s problems. It’s quite likely that your clients would rather be doing something other than dealing with you. What they’re really saying to you is, “Please make my problems go away.” When your wisdom provides such a solution, they feel relief, and they also get to spend their time doing what they want to be doing. Knowing that one part of life is all taken care of is enormously valuable to them.

Creativity — providing capability.

When your business is focused on solving problems instead of selling products and services, you can build a process where people pay up front for your wisdom. You’ll sell products and services along the way inside that process (and lots more of them, judging from our clients’ experiences), but what people want most is practical wisdom. And they’re willing to pay more for that than you might think. They can get “things” anywhere, but for the creative solutions that come from your applied wisdom, they need you. Your process is the structure for delivering yourself and your solutions to your clients.

Many rewards.

Creating value based on your unique wisdom is the most profitable way to run your business. It also differentiates you from all your competitors, freeing you up to capitalize on your business’ unique strengths instead of worrying about survival. But the best reward is being able to spend all your time engaged in doing what you like best. Wisdom is the result of long-term focus on one thing, so your areas of wisdom tend to overlap with your passions. And there’s nothing better to build your business on than what you love.