From Me to We: Why commercial collaboration will future-proof business, leaders and personal success

chapter 10 ReConnect Principle 5 —  Exchange value

Price is what you pay, value is what you get.

— Warren Buffett, investor and philanthropist

Commercial collaboration requires a value exchange in the true sense of the term, in that it requires both parties to bring something more to the transaction than just a product at a price.

At its heart, a value exchange is a very simple process; it is, by literal definition, a transfer of goods or services from a company to its customers, with the customer paying for the goods or services in return. The ‘but wait, there’s more’ comes in because ‘value’ lies in the need the good or service fulfils, rather than its actual physical properties.

When you look at it like that, it’s not very complicated. ...