Reimagining Customer Value Chains

Almost every company claims that they are customer-centric, but very few make the grade.?For those that do, successful products have been launched by putting their customers’ needs first.?Services companies thrive when they listen, respond, and delight their customers.?Software applications and entire industries like Customer Relationship Management and Customer Experience have been created to help organizations better connect with customers to drive more revenue.?More progressive companies have even created new executive roles like Chief Customer Officer to ensure that they have a focused strategy with the resources to execute.

What is a Value Chain?

According to Wikipedia, a?value chain?is a set of activities that a firm operating in a specific industry performs in order to deliver a valuable?product?(i.e.,?good?and/or?service) for the?market. The concept comes through business management and was first described by?Michael Porter?in his 1985 best-seller,?Competitive Advantage: Creating and Sustaining Superior Performance.

So why reimagine a business management concept that was introduced back in the mid 80’s??What’s new? What’s changed??After all, there are software solutions for that now, right??They’re even Cloud enabled!

The answer is that many have lost their way, and you can reap benefits by going back to the fundamentals.

Let’s Start With a Self-Assessment

Ask yourself the following questions, then we will break if down from there.?Don’t peek at the next section until you’ve answered these questions for yourself.

1.??????Who are your customers?

2.??????What is important to your customers?

3.??????Who are your suppliers?

4.??????Do your suppliers provide good products, services, and experiences to you? Are you delighted?

5.??????Are your employees happy?

6.??????Bonus – Who is the one competitor that you could defeat, beginning today?

Answer Key

Okay, let’s dig in!?They were trick questions, and they are all related.?Did you fall for them, or did you anticipate where I am leading you?

1.??????Who are your customers?

All commercial businesses have customers that pay for their products and services. Yes, they are your ultimate target audience that you want to delight.?If you are in a customer-facing role such as Sales, Service, or Support, then you are directly focused on enhancing value for external customers.?But what if you are not customer-facing??Who are your internal customers??Go back now and re-take the assessment if you need to revise your answers from a different perspective.

2.??????What is important to your customers?

Thinking about your internal customers, their customers, all the way down to your paying customers, what is important to them??Is it speed? Quality? Consistency? Communication and feedback? Follow-up?

3.??????Who are your suppliers?

Who provides your inputs, information, raw materials, and components??Who supplies them?

4.??????Do your suppliers provide good products, services, and experiences to you? Are you delighted?

If you answered affirmative, then congratulations!?Pass it on to your customers after you have added value, and don’t break the chain.

If you are not delighted, then work with your personal supply chain to get it fixed.?Partner with them and help them understand that your productivity and quality is suffering due to sub-par supply.?Optimizing your supply chain will ultimately increase the value of products and services to your paying customers.

5.??????Are your employees happy?

Recent surveys reveal that many employees are unhappy since the pandemic, or perhaps even before that.?Unhappy employees are an indication of broken customer value chains.?Executives need to fix this.?You can be part of the solution.?Focus on the weak links first to get quick results, but it is likely that every link in the chain could be made stronger and more integrated across your business.

6.??????Bonus – Who is the one competitor that you could defeat, beginning today?

The answer is… You! Don’t be your own worst enemy.?Change your perspective about how and where you fit in the customer value chain and make a conscious effort to strengthen your weak links.?Begin this today, and you will find advantages over your external competitors.?Your paying customers will begin to take notice too.

CVC is a Perspective That Drives Corporate Culture

Imagine if everybody in your organization changed their perspective and looked at their role and function as a service to others down the line.?What if everybody was nicer to each other, treated people with respect, and their goal was to be better than they were yesterday??Your corporate culture would improve, employee morale would improve, and your business would attract others.?A strong, unbreakable customer value chain is the path to delighting your (internal and external) customers.

A Call to Action – Reimagine!

Does your organization idolize superstars??Do you believe that if you could simply clone your top performers that all of your problems would go away??Are you maniacally focused on crushing your competition and impressing your paying customers? If you answered yes to any of these questions, then take a minute to reconsider your perspective and reimagine.

Although the customer value chain not a new concept, it has become a lost art for many.?Change your perspective.?Align with your suppliers and customers, then help others to do the same.?Winning in business is a team sport, and winning teams are high-functioning teams with a shared purpose.

Keep a lookout for my next article where I take these ideas to the next level by examining Servant Leadership, where authentic leadership is serving others and not yourself.?