Added Value
Added Value is in the Mind of the Customer
In Book 2, Lesson 30, I had 3 Icons that I said I would explain. This icon above is the most important Icon of the three from my point of view. The world has changed in the last 10 years. The real change has been brought about by the speed of accessability of any “ME”, meaning “YOU”.
The Web-Environment has made the seemingly impossible possible for each person on most of Planet Earth. Now every person (with few exceptions) has Greater Speed,Width, Depth in less TIME than ever before in the history of human kind. What this means is far greater Choice in every Decision that a Human will make and seemingly taking less time to make the Decision.
I don’t think Humans are willing to be sold a commodity anymore. The world of supply and demand has really been superceded by Choice.
Let “ME” give “YOU” an example. Recently, Judy and I were changing out our hot-water system at home from electric to instantaneous gas. Judy always looks at many of the alternatives that are available. John on the other hand just wants to get the job done. There were several choices of the style of the hot water system, yet the efficiencies were all the same. There is, as it turns out, a standard laid out to consider when buying hot water systems. All brands meet the standard or they can’t be sold in the Australian marketplace.
So how do we choose which Hot Water System to buy?
Judy and I always want to support local business first. “WE” are prepared to pay up to 20% more to support the local businesses. As business owners ourselves, we understand both Scale and Profit. All businesses must make a Profit to stay in business. Not all businesses have enough volume to create economies of Scale Pricing.
Local business in my opinion is an Environmental Issue. We watch how the Environmentalists are concerned abour green house gases, animal welfare and a myriad of other causes. I’m concerned about meaning to each Human in every Community. I watch as large multi-nationals destroy local economies by using reduced pricing (Supply and Demand) thinking, not allowing for the True Environmental Costs of not having Local Business serving a local commnuity. All things being equal in product performance, Judy and I will buy from a local business, allowing for up to a 20% Price Differential. The Real Cost far outweighs the pricing issues.
Supply and Demand is always a Pricing Issue first and Cost consideration second. As a Human-Environmentalist, I understand the cost to each community when a local business goes broke because it doesn’t have the mass to buy at economies of scale and then be able to price accordingly. In my opinion, the Large Multi-National Corporations have caused as many bads as they have done goods. The life is in the balance for Corporations leaning towards the bads. Time to reconsider the Value that Corporations provide to Humanity.
Don’t misunderstand “ME” “IN” this matter. I believe that Corporations are a very important part of a Human Exchange Eco-Sysytem. I just don’t believe Profit is the most important aspect of a Corporation. Just driving Profits has destroyed whole working class communities all over the world. TIME to look at the meaning of Human lives being more important than Money Profit. Again, don’t misunderstand “ME”. Profit must be made in every Commercial Exchange Event. Value must be considered as important.
I watch as the the world business communities (Governments, Corporations and SME’s) spend inordinate amounts of Time teaching Humans how to trick other Humans into buying their products. The world has changed. There is far too much useless information made Valuable by Preception-Trickery.
Perception-Trickery is created by giving information that makes it seem that by using a product, “YOU”will be “the real thing”…. That your life…. Some how transforms into a great sports star, or was that a great singer or was that a Super Human by using that said product. The real secret to life is that you are already a miracle, born in a vast Universe, making your way forward, creating meaning for you and yours.
Perception: is expectancy or just set is a predisposition to perceive things in a certain way. It is an example of how perception can be shaped by "top-down" processes such as drives and expectations .Perceptual sets occur in all the different senses. From Wikipedia
Trickery: the practice of crafty underhanded ingenuity to deceive or cheat.
Not all sales are subjected to Perception-Trickery. But it seems that the practice is being taught and accepted all over the world as a normal way of being these days.
The world is too smart and in the long run, trickery does not work. Human have far too much transparency in information flow on the web-world.
The business product Choices available to Humans in today’s world now demands that all products Add Value to Human lives.
To enable Businesses to maintain business Viability and in the long run Sustainability, Choice is now a barrier in every sale made.
The Complexities of Choices is overwhelming for most Humans. Business activities must take into consideration the Complexities of human existence in order to continue to sell to their products in the great global marketplace or even the local business communities, by understanding Value must be Added in every transaction.
For it is at this deeper level that we find the most compelling evidence that the economy is not “as it was before”—that, in fact, today’s entire structure of wealth creation is quaking and rocking, suggesting even bigger changes to come.
Deep fundamentals:
"Third Wave" is revolutionizing our relationships to three "deep fundamentals" and, therefore, to wealth systems in general.
· Time relationships are being transformed with respect to the continually increasing amount of changes and synchronization required for businesses and individuals to accumulate wealth.
· Space relationships are being transformed with respect to the former geographic limitations of market transactions. Never before has it been possible for businesses and individuals to accumulate wealth from around the globe with the ease that today's internet brings.
· Knowledge relationships are being transformed with respect to availability. As Toffler states, never before have we been able to instantly access virtually unlimited amounts of any kind of information for virtually zero cost. Unlike the foundations of past wealth revolutions, the Third Wave's foundation defies traditional economics in that knowledge is not scarce; knowledge is infinite and exponentiates itself. An economy based on knowledge also defies classical economics due to the non-rival property of knowledge. From Alvin Toffler, “Revolutionary Wealth”.
“As knowledge is replacing material and manpower as the fulcrum of the new economy, the old roles producer and consumer are blurring. We are no longer a passive market upon which industry dumps consumer goods but a part of the process pulling together the information and services. Enter the “Prosumer”. From Alvin Toffler, “The Third Wave”
In my opinion, teaching Humans how to Sell has now been Superseded by teaching Humans about why Humans will Buy Products or Services..
The How is always easier than the why and Humans naturally gravitate to the how rather than the why.
The number 1 reason Humans Buy is Perceived Added Value.
In other words, the Product is worth more than the Money paid for the Product.
Price is really not as important!
In my past life, I was addicted to drinking Coke Cola (still am for that matter. I just don’t drink it as I am just more aware of the health issues that come with the addiction). I have been known to pay as low as USD 30 cents for a glass of coke and as high as USD $10.00 for a glass of coke…. same volume of fluid. Believe it or not, 33 times more in price for the same taste of coke. Only difference is the experience I received for money spent. In both cases, I believed I got Added Value for money spent.
Here are 10 more reasons why I think people buy:
1. ENERGY
2. SUCCESS
3. CONFIDENCE
4. COMPETENCE
5. EXCELLENT
6. CHALLENGE
7. FUN
8. TRUST
9. GRATITUDE
10. CLARITY Clear and HONEST
No matter whether buying or selling, YOU and ME are always in some level of Communication. Humans and businesses are always Transmitting and Receiving messages. Negative - / + Positive are happening all at the same TIME. The great advantages all Humans have are levels of choices that can be made from communications received or transmitted. Next week, I look at Communications between Humans.
JDS OUT. 
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