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39Chapter 3: Seeing Your Product through Your Customers’ Eyes

ߜ What does it cost?
ߜ What is the quality?
ߜ What features are included?
ߜ Is it convenient?
ߜ Is it reliable?
ߜ Can they trust your expertise?
ߜ How is the product supported?
ߜ What guarantee, promise, or ongoing relationship can they count on?

Figure 3-1: The Value Formula
Many
How Customers Compute Value
attributes
besides Price
price Quality
Features
contribute Convenience
to a Reliability
Expertise
customer’s + Support
perception
VALUE
of value.

These considerations start an invisible mental juggling act to determine
what, in the customer’s mind, is the value of your offering.

If your product’s quality and features are only average, then they’ll expect a
low price to tip the deal in your favor.

On the other hand, if customers place a premium on your promise of reliabil-
ity (think Federal Express), they’ll likely cut you some slack when it comes to
low price or convenience.

Have you heard the old chestnut, “Price, Quality, and Speed — choose any
two”? Well, for successful 21st-century small businesses, those days are gone.
Your customer expects you to be the best at one and competitive in all three
areas. Not the best in all three areas — but at least competitive.

Here are some well-known examples:

ߜ Costco = Best price
ߜ Nordstrom = Best service
ߜ Starbucks = Best product