Tag Archives: value

  • -
valued services

Valued Services Are a Measurement Of The Customer

Tags : 

Do you deliver valued services? How do you know?

In business, people often express that they deliver excellent products or highly valued services. They believe that what they deliver is very good.

It begs a two-part question, compared to what and defined by whom?

When you build a product or deliver a service you can certainly express that it is of great quality and of high value.

Often those producing the product or service will take great pride in their work. They may spend long hours and work extra hard.

Does that make it more valuable?

What about professional services? Are you willing to pay a more experienced or more educated medical doctor more? The same may be true for an attorney, a carpenter, or a consultant.

Who decides the value?

Valued Services

The truth is that the buyer or the customer decide the value.

When a business owner tells you that they have exceptional customer service you may want to ask how they know. In response, they may say, “because our customers tell us.”

Does every customer tell them this, or is it really only a special few?

Often businesses judge their product or services value based on their own opinion. They haven’t really studied it and they choose to ignore any naysayers.

It is hard to completely please everyone, and at some level you probably shouldn’t get too hung up on those few who decide what you provide is not of great value. However, totally ignoring it could sink the business.

Have you ever been served a beverage in a glass in a restaurant and there is someone’s lipstick on it? Is the floor dirty? Did you feel ill a few hours after consumption of the meal? Some things cannot be ignored.

Remember that the creator of the product or the person providing a service does not define the value. They may set the price, but the customer or client always defines the value.

-DEG

Dennis E. Gilbert is a business consultant, speaker (CSPTM), and culture expert. He is a five-time author and the founder of Appreciative Strategies, LLC. His business focuses on positive human performance improvement solutions through Appreciative Strategies®. Reach him through his website at Dennis-Gilbert.com or by calling +1 646.546.5553.


  • -
time value

Time Value, Are You Getting The Benefit?

Tags : 

Time value might be a measurement you’re familiar with even if you don’t recognize it at first. It seems most people believe that good things take time, but how is that value measured?

When you first learned how to tie your shoes it may have taken some time, and some additional practice. Now you can tie your shoe in one or two seconds.

You might paint a picture with some water colors. It might have taken you an hour or more. The picture can be scanned or duplicated with a copier in less than one minute. It’s not an original, but it still has great value.

The same is true for nearly anything you do. At first, things take more time. After you get some practice it all seems easier and faster. The quality doesn’t have to be sacrificed and the time for delivery improves.

What is the real value of time?

Time Value

In the workplace, teams often seek solutions for problems. The easy problems, or the ones that have occurred before are more easily solved. The time to fix is minimal. That means more value for your investment of time.

Complex problems are a little different. They are often complex because there is a bigger learning curve. There is some time required to discover the root cause, strategize on ways to approach it, and ultimately some trial and error until the solution is fully realized.

It is a constant battle against the undiscovered or the unresolved. The value of your time and the associated performance improves when you put in the effort.

Cheap and easy takes less time. The value of cheap and easy is less.

-DEG

Dennis E. Gilbert is a business consultant, speaker (CSPTM), and culture expert. He is a five-time author and the founder of Appreciative Strategies, LLC. His business focuses on positive human performance improvement solutions through Appreciative Strategies®. Reach him through his website at Dennis-Gilbert.com or by calling +1 646.546.5553.


  • -
worth

Worth It? Is It a Question About Time or Value?

Tags : 

When there is disappointment or a decision to be made, someone might ask, “Is it worth it?” It seems commonplace yet it may not be asked as often as it should.

Was it worth it when:

  • You did your best work?
  • You cut quality to improve in speed?
  • Someone suggested you deviate from your current path to try something new or different?

Time is a constant for everyone, yet, it is a finite resource. It is one that everyone has the same amount of so the only way to benefit is through productivity and efficiency.

When you spend your time putting in the extra effort, does it make a difference? Time for studying, education, or family, have you balanced it appropriately. When you aren’t sure, you may ask yourself, “Is it worth it?”

Worth It

Life is full of choices and decisions. Life is also full of risk.

There is always risk. Sometimes it is viewed in trade-offs, or viewed to benefit the one, instead of the many.

Workplace risk is often measured as personal risk. A risk to speak up, or stay silent. Silence may allow the team to go off course, on the other hand, disagreeing with the boss might get you fired.

Assessing risk often reaches a conclusion based on a question of worth.

At the pawn shop or flea market, a used item is assessed by worth. The question develops and worth is measured.

Perhaps it should be questioned more. Questioned for compensation, questioned for the customer, and questioned for the activity that you’ll perform next.

Is time part of the equation?

Time and Value

Time is nearly always relevant. It pushes people to weigh risk, prioritize, and assess value.

The next time you’re curious about worth, consider how the boundaries of time change value.

More time often makes things have more worth.

Time is always associated with the price you pay.

-DEG

Dennis E. Gilbert is a business consultant, speaker (CSPTM), and culture expert. He is a five-time author and the founder of Appreciative Strategies, LLC. His business focuses on positive human performance improvement solutions through Appreciative Strategies®. Reach him through his website at Dennis-Gilbert.com or by calling +1 646.546.5553.


  • -
serving everyone

Serving Everyone May Take Away Value

Tags : 

Does your business pride itself on serving everyone? Does the quest for more numbers flatten your value, or grow it?

Most businesses or organizations have a specific market. A segment, a group, a commonality that allows them to provide value to a piece of the pie, but not the whole pie.

Yet, it is often commonplace that people work really hard to accommodate the needs of everyone.

This has a price. The price is often that in the attempt to serve everyone they aren’t really great at serving anyone.

One user on the network, is just another user. Another product on display in Amazon’s website, just another potential source of revenue.

This may be true at the hospital, just another patient. It’s often true at the Pizza shop, the grocery store, and with your electric service provider.

Many of these service offerings don’t really make a big investment in you. They make and investment in the numbers. Yes, you may be one of them, but that’s it, just a number.

Serving Everyone

Some of the best service providers are building it with you which is not exactly the same as building it for you. Building it for you often scales to building for the number. It is the effect of the enterprise and the economies of scale.

Emerging software companies often start by building it with you. They are interested in your needs, the features you love, and the bugs that you discover.

The successful program starts to shift as the economy of the enterprise grows. They start building it for you. It is the attraction of the product, the marketing hype, and for the end-user, it’s a quest to remain part of the group.

Once they fought for you, now they fight to use you as a number in their game.

It is a similar concept for getting something for free. Sign up for the free webinar, the chance to win, or the no-cost obligation. If you aren’t paying you are not the customer, you are part of the marketing team. The goal is more numbers.

High value comes from those who are building it with you. The stakes are different and so are the outcomes.

-DEG

Dennis E. Gilbert is a business consultant, speaker (CSPTM), and culture expert. He is a five-time author and the founder of Appreciative Strategies, LLC. His business focuses on positive human performance improvement solutions through Appreciative Strategies®. Reach him through his website at Dennis-Gilbert.com or by calling +1 646.546.5553.


  • -
customer requirements

Customer Requirements Are About Knowledge

Tags : 

Are you meeting customer requirements? How do you know?

Perhaps the first step in analyzing whether the requirement has been met is to be certain you understand who the customer is. Not all customers are external, and not all customers are the end-user or consumer.

When you ask someone quickly about a customer, they often connect with the idea of retail shopping. The simple concept is, a person walks in, inquires or purchases goods, and at some point, leaves the store.

There are many assessments of customer touchpoints. Everything from websites to telephone calls to the receipt of goods shipped.

Customer service is a broad subject to say the least.

Are you meeting the requirements?

Customer Requirements

In the workplace, people are often suggesting that they did their best work. They tried hard, worked extra, and now take pride in the finished product.

However, it doesn’t necessarily mean that they met or exceeded customer expectations.

Building a good product or delivering exceptional service is always judged by the customer, not the builder.

Yet, every day the builder attempts to communicate the delightfulness of their goods or services.

It is challenging for the builder. They really have to know and understand the customer. This is exactly why many businesses are built around users of products or services in an attempt to make it better than the current best offering available.

Build a better car, a better television streaming experience, a better cell phone, a computing device, or even a better dish washer.

It may be challenging to build a better shovel, a better garden rake, or even a better ceramic coffee mug. Commodity products are often defined by the service associated with the sale.

Quality intersects with value.

It all begins with understanding the customer requirements.

Does every employee of your organization understand the customer requirements?

This is always the best place to start getting better.

-DEG

Dennis E. Gilbert is a business consultant, speaker (CSPTM), and culture expert. He is a five-time author and the founder of Appreciative Strategies, LLC. His business focuses on positive human performance improvement solutions through Appreciative Strategies®. Reach him through his website at Dennis-Gilbert.com or by calling +1 646.546.5553.


  • -
Zoom dress code

Zoom Dress Code, Social Etiquette, and Posers

Tags : 

Today you may have a Zoom meeting. If not, you may find yourself in one this week, or next. What is your Zoom dress code? Are you a poser?

It is hard to pin point an exact moment when, but somewhere along the way the selfie became a thing.

A selfie is an opportunity. It’s an opportunity to show what you have, put on a big smile, or show everyone your tongue. Some selfies appear very natural, not staged, and comfortable. Others are more tense, stiff, and out of focus. Some are just plain silly.

Social Etiquette and Online Meetings

What about the Zoom meeting you have coming up? Are you ready for video to invade your home? What once was private is now on display. How will you pose?

Social etiquette is evolving and you are part of it. How you prepare and present today will have an impact on the shape of things in the future.

Engagement is often suggested as the key to online interaction. Keep the attention, keep things moving, more pictures, more interaction, bigger smiles, and make it all attractive.

Did you ever think you would participate in Hollywood Squares?

Does telework etiquette matter?

Most people wouldn’t even consider going to a workplace without appropriate dress and cleanliness. It’s appropriate.

Yet, if you’re not in your natural state are you comfortable?

Rules of etiquette have been challenged for decades, perhaps even centuries.

When it comes to your Zoom meetings you may want to find that happy medium. Comfortable is important, appropriate matters too.

Zoom Dress Code

It is not really contest. It isn’t a glamour show. Does it all matter? Certainly.

The goal of your Zoom meeting is probably not to attain the most likes when you share your Hollywood Squares picture on social media.

It’s about engagement, participation, and in some cases, learning.

zoom appreciative strategies

When you enter the physical workplace, the office of the boss, or the conference room for a meeting are you thinking about what your photo will look like? Probably not.

You’re thinking about what is about to unfold, how you’ll engage, the questions you’ll ask and the value you can contribute.

You’ve already dressed appropriately.

You’re there to engage.

For the Zoom meeting authenticity matters. Prepare for success. Don’t be a poser.

-DEG

Originally posted on August 5, 2020, last updated on December 8, 2020.

Dennis E. Gilbert is a business consultant, speaker (CSPTM), and culture expert. He is a five-time author and the founder of Appreciative Strategies, LLC. His business focuses on positive human performance improvement solutions through Appreciative Strategies®. Reach him through his website at Dennis-Gilbert.com or by calling +1 646.546.5553.


  • -
your personal brand

Your Personal Brand Is Not Everything

Tags : 

What is your expertise? How do people recognize what you offer? Your personal brand is not everything to anyone.

In a general sense, we know what is on the menu at a McDonald’s or Burger King restaurant. Lasagna isn’t an option.

We can also be pretty sure that we won’t buy a new mattress at the Chevrolet car dealership. We won’t buy a new cell phone at a beauty salon, and we won’t get a freshly cooked rotisserie chicken at the office supplies store.

In the workplace, or for your career, recognizing that you can’t be everything to anyone doesn’t limit your value, it increases it.

Things that are available everywhere to anyone typically cost less.

In leisurely terms we often call these commodity products or services.

They cost less because the wide spread availability drives the price down. The economic guidelines of supply and demand prevail. Businesses selling commodity products or services largely compete on price.

Why Value Matters

What is the value add for a disposable pen? Probably not much.

What is the value if you can have your business name printed on it? Perhaps, a little more, but often this service is readily available.

Convenience stores gain some margin because of their location and of course, their convenience.

Convenience is a service, a value-add. Patrons pay a little more for the convenience.

Most married couples wouldn’t consider a convenience store for their ten-year wedding anniversary dinner. Most convenience stores wouldn’t try to offer this.

Your Personal Brand

Branding for each individual, in their job or their career, isn’t made up of being everything to anyone.

Certainly, lending a hand or helping out in a pinch is noteworthy, and sign of a positive workplace culture and caring. Great.

When your background and expertise is accounting, you may not also be in line to be the Chief Marketing Officer. If you are the CMO, you may not also be preparing for a CPA exam.

If this is not true and you cross paths of expertise often, what is your brand?

A lack of definition may make you nothing more than a disposable pen.

You can put your name on it, but is really doesn’t do much to change the value.

Build your brand.

-DEG

Dennis E. Gilbert is a business consultant, speaker (CSPTM), and culture expert. He is a five-time author and the founder of Appreciative Strategies, LLC. His business focuses on positive human performance improvement solutions through Appreciative Strategies®. Reach him through his website at Dennis-Gilbert.com or by calling +1 646.546.5553.


  • -
service value

Service Value Is Always Determined By The Customer

Tags : 

What is your product or service worth? Service value is not easily defined by the provider, no matter how hard you try.

When you live in a urban area and someone offers you a free lawnmower, or a goat, it probably is not of much value. The same may be true for gasoline engine powered hedge trimmers, a weed whacker, or a rototiller.

None of it really matters, it may be deemed not useful or of very little value.

The same may be true about two plane tickets to Montana via the Dawson Community Airport.

It is true about certain foods, books, or other resources. If there is no connection, there really is no value.

Free sauerkraut and hot dogs do not interest me. Yet, it may interest someone.

A twenty-year-old car in great condition may not seem to be worth much, but replacing it is expensive.

This concept is critically important as you face the challenge of serving your customers. What you offer isn’t always what is viewed as attractive or valuable.

Service Value

The trick for anything or everything depends on its perceived value.

Who would have ever thought that there would be a toilet paper crisis?

American Pickers look for rusty gold. Many people see nothing but junk.

The real opportunity is for the business to see everything through the lens of the customer and not through the lens of the innovator. Sometimes, yes, it could be appropriate for both. Yet, more often it is weighted in favor of the customer view.

An invention with no use is really just a floppy disk.

Or perhaps, a boiled egg squarer.

-DEG

Dennis E. Gilbert is a business consultant, speaker (CSPTM), and culture expert. He is a five-time author and the founder of Appreciative Strategies, LLC. His business focuses on positive human performance improvement solutions through Appreciative Strategies®. Reach him through his website at Dennis-Gilbert.com or by calling +1 646.546.5553.


  • -
untaught lessons

Untaught Lessons Are Not a Life Event Label

Tags : 

Learning from experience is what many people enjoy the most. In some circles it is identified as experiential learning. Can you learn from untaught lessons?

Untaught suggests that it wasn’t scripted. It still, perhaps, could have happened in a classroom only it was a by-product of the instruction or lecture not necessarily the actual content.

Often people believe that experiential implies hands on. Such as a mechanic uses a wrench to loosen the bolt.

Experiential learning at its root is developed from reflection. When you reflect cognitively on the content, an outcome, or even the lecture, you are experiencing it.

What we learn becomes part of who we are. Often people become a label.

She is a teacher, dentist, or a welder. He is a carpenter, a salesman, or a project manager.

The labels often become applied as a result of formal studies. The degree in accounting makes her an accountant. It’s a life event label. She studied accounting and is now an accountant.

What happens with all of the untaught lessons?

Do you learn something from the by-product or residue of intentional learning?

Untaught Lessons

At the end of formal training sessions sometimes an instructor may ask, “What did you learn?”

For the individual there is reflection. For everyone else in the class there is reflection and an opportunity for learning from thoughts shared.

In many cases we experience or reflect upon what we choose.

When we make a mistake, we can learn from it. When we have some success, we can learn from it.

In life it is often our reflection on lessons that have the greatest impact.

Untaught lessons may not provide you with a life event label. Yet, life events may teach you a lesson.

-DEG

Dennis E. Gilbert is a business consultant, speaker (CSPTM), and culture expert. He is a five-time author and the founder of Appreciative Strategies, LLC. His business focuses on positive human performance improvement solutions through Appreciative Strategies®. Reach him through his website at Dennis-Gilbert.com or by calling +1 646.546.5553.


  • -
building personal brand

Building Personal Brand Is About Value

Tags : 

Mike Tyson has a different brand when compared with Sarah Jessica Parker. The same is true for Jim Parsons when compared with Daniel Tosh. Building personal brand depends on the value you are trying to create.

What is your value about? What is the image of your personal brand?

It is common when we speak about personal brand that the conversation may shift to money. Who can achieve the biggest salary, the most perks, and the best benefits?

Chances are great that there is a small local grocer who has a reputation for high quality food, friendly service, and a reasonable price. The same may be true for the hair salon, the hardware store, and the pizza shop.

People will go out of their way to get what they desire. If they are more interested in image, they may shop the trendiest place. Regardless of price or value.

For most, the workplace as we know it has been disrupted. Many are trying to reinvigorate commerce. When it comes to people and jobs, what will be most valuable now and in the future?

Building Personal Brand

You have to keep in mind your personal brand. What does that look like and who should hire you?

Employers will largely hire (or keep) based on their perceived need. From their perceived need, they’ll be considering value.

A Chevrolet Sonic will get you across town, so will a cab. You could also drive a Bentley to get there. Price varies substantially, so does the cost of ownership.

If an organization does not see the value that you bring to them, they may make a different selection.

Not everyone is a Bentley, and not every employer would want to drive one.

Remember that some organizations will make hiring decisions that don’t seem to align with price.

Perhaps because they see value as more important than price. Yet, some will see price as an identifier of value.

Choose your market and build the appropriate brand.

Mike Tyson and Sarah Jessica Parker both have something to do with knockouts. A Sonic or a Bentley will both get you across town.

You decide.

-DEG

Dennis E. Gilbert is a business consultant, speaker (CSPTM), and culture expert. He is a five-time author and the founder of Appreciative Strategies, LLC. His business focuses on positive human performance improvement solutions through Appreciative Strategies®. Reach him through his website at Dennis-Gilbert.com or by calling +1 646.546.5553.


Search This Website

Subscribe to Blog via Email

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Blog (Filter) Categories

Follow me on Twitter

Assessment Services and Tools

Strategic, Competency, or Needs Assessments, DiSC Assessments, 360 Feedback, and more. Learn more