Value For Carnivores

[scott]

I hijacked another thread with comments on the focus on selling. See it at viewtopic.php?t=2210.

Several readers commented on the futility of going too far to provide value. Their experience was that some prospects didn't appreciate the value offered.

My take:

Value is determined by each of us according to our view of our own self interest.

Your clients have a perception of value. It does not matter if you think you are providing value. What does your client perceive?

The finest steak in the land means nothing to a vegetarian.

[d's insurance store]

Scott,

My point in the 'other' thread was that in my view...and it's only my view...market conditions and buying/purchase decisions are being made very differently today than only a few years ago for many items, insurance products included.

I have chosen to 'play' in the small agency arena, offering mostly personal lines, a bit of small commercial and a smattering of life and health. Over the past 3 decades, by most measures, I've been very successful, keeping clients covered and satisfied, serving their definitions of 'needs' and doing all of the things that tend to make an insurance agency successful.

As change is constant, as a business owner, I've had to bob and weave, dodge and duck as market conditions evolve. My business practices of 10 years ago are not my business practices of today.

I guess where I'm headed here is that I'm not discarding anything you've noted about service attributes and the fact that a value proposition is what the consumer makes it. It's just in my world of smaller premiums, where volume is what makes it work, it's possible to give too much service and value beyond which the consumer expects without any real long term benefit to the business.

[scott]

D,

Yes.

The perils are:

Too little value
Too much value
The wrong kind of value

Any one of those will result in a loss of business, relationship, and/or reputation.

You are correct. Buyers of every good and service are more particular, better educated, and have more options. Standing out in a crowd is more important now than ever before - in all industries.