With the winter Olympics in full swing we see the strengths and challenges each athlete has overcome to get to Sochi. Each performance has been astounding and proves the Olympics are a great feat for everyone regardless of flags or lines on a map.
These Olympians have dedicated their lives to winning the gold we all hold in such pristine. It is important to recognize and understand what each athlete has done. In spirit of the 2014 Winter Olympics I challenge businesses to ask themselves if they have done the same. Has your business really gone for the gold?
There are no steps to success, no easy way to the top. No answers a blog can give you to achieve victory, any athlete will tell you that. Don’t expect this blog to provide that either. In business it takes the same dedication and work we expect from these Olympians to win us over. Again, I challenge businesses to ask what makes them different and what they are providing for their customers. Are they doing all they can to make their customers as happy as the athletes are doing for their countries?
We all like to route for our home countries. With the USA sweeping the slopestyle skiing we can’t help but to cheer. Now maybe it was the infamous side-by-side Sochi toilets that helped the talent spread between them, but it comes down to the training and skill within each athlete. There are stand alones out there that make us revel in the Olympic Spirit like Canadian coach Justin Wadsworth. Wadsworth ran out on a ski run to give skier Anton Gafarov a new ski after a series of unfortunate mishaps. It’s people like Wadsworth that each company can learn from to really understand what a good Value Proposition means.
By engaging and listening to a customer, even before they ask for something, is a great way to improve your Value Proposition. Most companies are not interested in just listening to you sell them but are more interested in their challenges and how to improve them. Interest them with solutions and be the human in B2B.
Bryan Kramer, Social Business Strategist and CEO of PureMatter, recently stated that there are more blurred lines in business. “What we’re marketing most often does not align to actual consumer experiences.” This is a reminder that we are all human and should be treated and listened to as humans, human to human (H2H). That is what Value Propositions are about, listening and engaging your customers to create opportunities for them and your business. And with a little work you can win the gold.
Get out there and give a metaphorical ski to your customers who may be struggling or just help them get their own gold. They will be sure to award you one as well.
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