You Are the Value

10 The Value Ladder™ in Review

The climb up the Value Ladder™ certainly has been high and far. By now, you’ve learned a lot through the Value Ladder™ process. Before we address advanced applications, cultural issues, and creating a value strategy, let’s revisit some key points:

• The value revolution is alive and well. Clients are changing, have greater options, and are demanding custom solutions.

• Many professional services have become commoditized.

• First impressions happen only once, so improving your answers to client questions will help make a good first impression.

• The Value Ladder™ process can help you compete on value.

  Here’s where you stand after reading this far in this book:

• You should have a better understanding of how to introduce yourself, your team, or your firm.

• You have learned techniques for introspection and the creation of your Unique Value Proposition™ (UVP™).

• You can identify your core business beliefs and philosophies regarding the solutions that you present to others.

• You can define your unique process, an important way to distinguish yourself, by how you partner with clients to achieve their goals.

• You can analyze your client base and consider client retention and growth over a lifetime and understand its value to you.

• You can share client successes and solutions you have provided without betraying client confidentiality.

• You can differentiate yourself from the competition in three ways: through your organization; your solutions; and, most important, yourself. ...