The Go Giver Part 1 - "The Law of Value"
If you haven't read the book "The Go-Giver... A little story about a powerful business idea" by Bob Burg and John Mann I encourage you to do so very soon. It meets five criteria for a successful read in my world where I tend to read halfway thru about six books at any one time and then start six more while those six are being read... You get the picture. Criteria include:
- It is Less than 150 pages
- Super Large font:)
- Book is Practical, yet has depth and is rich with truths at the same time
- It is Less than 60 minutes to read
- Really, really Large font:)
This fictional story by the authors portray five ultimate "Laws" that are essential for business and life success. Each one of them in the upcoming weeks I want to share my thoughts on the business applications I am taking away wtih me post read. This post will in no way be a book review as that is most certainly not my gifting.
The Law of Value according to the authors is:
"Your true worth is determined by how much you give in value than you take in payment" (pg 129).
As I read this value a quick story came to mind. Recently I had a consumer order a product from our company. Innocently they went to a online partner website of ours, picked a product of their choosing, and asked us to ship it in a timely manner. Simple right? We do it every day. For various reasons the item did not ship on time. This left the consumer upset, frustrated and taken advantage of in many ways. The customer called our online partner, who in turn called their Logo customer service rep to inquire what could be done. The call was received late on Friday afternoon, after our shipping was complete for the day. Our CSR Jenny informed the account that even if the goods shipped today, it would be Monday before the customer would get the product they ordered well in advance a week ago to have already had by the weekend. A consumer and the trust of an account is in jeopardy at this point.
So what happens here? Payment has been given by our customer to our online partner. The value promised was a Logo product well made, well priced, and an industry leader that will last in home/lifestyle settings for long periods to come... if only the product would ship as promised. By the time Friday afternoon rolled around, the "value" seen by this account/consumer had dipped below the payment given. Nothing worse than paying for something and feeling like you did not get your money's worth. So Jenny, the CSR for the account saw a way to increase value. She noted the order had a local address 45 minutes away from Franklin, Tennessee where our corporate office resides. On her own accord she went to google, mapped out the drive, grabbed the invoice, the product and left the office. She left without seeking the praises and choruses of "Job well done" around the office. She left on a Friday afternoon late knowingly forgoing most certain plans wtih family on a Friday night. The end result was Jenny rescued not only a consumer/customer relationship, she added value to the transaction. She gave "Value" that exceed the payment given to us and to our online partner.
I know our consumer will not expect the next time they order to get a hand delivered product from the company he or she ordered from online. But I do know their faith even if for a day will be restored in that there is value that exceeds payment, and at that it is not always just in a better product at a great price. Alot of companies make great products and price it well. Value truly can be measured in perception that cannot be seen.
