You Are the Value

13 Competing on Value Begins With a Strategy

I have mentioned already that you can use the Value Ladder™ for an individual, team, or organization. Let me tell you a little bit about how my company works with organizations that are getting ready to embark on the Value Ladder™ process. Before we begin a major initiative for a client, we always schedule time with key members of the company’s leadership team and appropriate members who interact with the company’s clients. We also review critical client data collected from focus groups or surveys. Many times, we pick up the phone ourselves and talk to clients first hand. Why are we doing all this in preparation for Value Ladder™ training?

It is a vital step in preparation for our consultative approach. We refer to this step as the alignment phase in our process. Our alignment phase is all about organizational readiness. Not only does the client need to be ready for some unique introspection, we have to be ready, as well.

The Value Ladder™ is an iterative process. It requires great process facilitation skills to develop a world-class story. You are constantly debating meaning, checking your thesaurus, and wondering if you have the right words in play for each Value Ladder™ step. Participants are constantly searching us out and asking, “Can you take a look at this? Do the words make sense? Does this sound right?”

This step always precedes the development of an organizational Value Ladder™. The same would be the case for specialized practice ...