Value Frameworks Part 2.5: Articulating Benefits

Next in my series about value frameworks.  In my last post I described the components of a value framework:

·      The reason or reasons the customer is buying

·      The outcome or outcomes the customer wants to realize

·      The activities and workflows  required to get from the purchase to the outcomes

And I said that the next post would be about how it’s used across different parts of the organization.  BUT, then I realized I had one more thing to add to my list of Value Framework ingredients.  Hence, the Part 2.5.

What did I leave out?  Benefits.  Those things that might not be the reason a customer buys but that they still get (and enjoy) anyway.  Why do these matter if they’re not “value drivers” or reasons for buying?  Because they are often supporting reasons for renewing or r for justifying a price increase. 

Let’s use the sample Value Framework for a gym as an example.

While the framework lists key value drivers, it’s missing the other benefits you might get from your membership.  Let’s add those in:

 Now, let’s say you get to membership renewal time and, while you haven’t achieved your goal, you have enjoyed one or more of the benefits.  And the gym, wanting to keep you for another year, points that out, articulating all the ways in which you’ve enjoyed the gym.  Or you have reached your goal and the gym uses these benefits to justify a price increase.  Either way, understanding what these benefits are and being able to report out on them is important.

 Let’s try the same thing with our CRM example, this time using some of the benefits you’d likely get from choosing a leading provider like Salesforce.

Again, even if you haven’t accomplished your goals when renewal time draws near, it’s likely that just considering the benefits will keep you a customer.  And, if you have achieved your goal, the benefits are grounds for a price increase.

 So, that’s it (for real this time).  Your Value Framework comprises:

·      All the reasons people might buy your produce or service (the value drivers)

·      The measurable outcomes customers will achieve, by value driver

·      The work the customer and you must do together with your product/service to achieve those outcomes

·      The benefits customers get on top of the outcomes associated with their reasons for buying.

 Next up (promise):  How do different parts of the organization use it across the lifecycle?