Winning with Customers: A Playbook for B2B

Chapter 7. Executing Value Creation and Value Capture

It is time for honesty and vulnerability. This is a hard chapter for us! It is hard because causing people to act and do things differently on a day-to-day basis is one of the most difficult things in the world. Some people look at what we are suggesting when it comes to execution and go, "OMG!" We do not know why. We think it has something to do with the NIMBY (not-in-my-back yard) principle. Generally, NIMBY means people are really agreeable right up until you ask them to do something different. Well, we are going to ask you to consider some different things in this chapter.

After reading this chapter you will be able to answer these questions:

• Why is this approach to execution different and what are the benefits?

• What does a customer plan look like?

• How do you build customer plans out of the information we've discussed so far in the book?

• How do customers and sales react to these plans?

• How do you manage these plans without overloading the organization with work?

• What about getting your fair share (profits) as well?

• What are the things you need to keep in the corporate vault?

If there is any part of you at all that desires to differentiate your company in the eyes of your customer, then dig in and consume every word of this chapter. This is the reward and the fun stuff!

What Is Execute?

Just to make sure we are focused, take another look at the "Why We Win" in Table 7.1. Execute is about customer planning and management. In this context, ...