PREFACE

      WE HAVE WRITTEN this book for general managers, marketing managers, and sales managers whose businesses serve business markets—firms, institutions, and governments. A common lament that we hear from these managers is that although they believe their offerings deliver superior value to customers, their businesses have difficulty persuading customers of this. Customer managers, increasingly pressed for time and demonstrable results, appear to focus simply on reducing price. What causes this? A faulty customer value proposition? A lack of knowledge of how to persuasively substantiate the superior value of their offerings relative to those offered by competitors? Salespeople who are unwilling, or unable, to sell value and instead rely on price concessions to retain or gain business? Each of these may contribute to frustrating results, when sales may grow but profitability lags disappointingly behind.

      Our book enables general managers, marketing managers, and sales managers to overcome such obstacles and get a better return on the superior value that their market offerings deliver to target customers. We contend that to prosper in today’s demanding business markets, supplier managers have to fundamentally reexamine their philosophy of doing business and how they put it into practice. Suppliers must adopt a philosophy of doing business based on demonstrated and documented superior value and implement that philosophy using an approach we call customer value management. Customer value management is a progressive, practical approach to business markets that, in its essence, has two basic goals:

      Customer value management relies on customer value assessment to gain an understanding of customer requirements and preferences and what fulfilling those are worth in monetary terms. Although firms may be able to accomplish the first goal without any methodical assessment of customer value, it is unlikely that they will be able to accomplish the second goal without it. Simply put, to gain an equitable or fair return on the value their offerings deliver, suppliers must be able to persuasively demonstrate and document the superior value they provide customers relative to the next-best alternative.

      In this book we provide readers with a detailed, step-by-step understanding of customer value management and how to implement it in their businesses. We begin with how to conceptualize value and go all the way through to how to profit from the superior value provided. We offer numerous case examples from businesses in a wide variety of industries and countries to support our approach and help bring it to life for readers. In writing this book, we also draw on our experience in working with companies over the past decade to implement customer value management. We have seen the significant contribution that customer value management can make to business performance. Isn’t it time for your business to really