by John Ravaris, author of “Define value, drive growth: building a business that customers choose and competitors envy“
Most management teams can describe what they believe makes their company valuable. They can talk about their service, their employees, their responsiveness, their expertise or even their ability to solve problems. But when I work with companies on growth strategy, I like to ask a different question: How would your best customers describe the value you create?
The gap between what a company believes it offers and what customers actually value is one of the biggest problems with a customer-centric strategy. This appears when a company’s message seems strong internally, but customers don’t repeat it. This shows up when salespeople describe value one way, operations delivers it another way, and customers experience something completely different.
A value proposition isn’t just what a company says about itself. This is what customers believe to be true because they have experienced it. Bain & Company wrote about a well-known delivery gap: In its survey of 362 companies, 80% believed they provided a superior customer experience, but customers said only 8% of companies actually did. Companies often overestimate how well their desired value matches the actual customer experience.
The problem of internally constructed value
Many companies build their value proposition from the inside out. Management, marketing, sales and operations get together in a room and discuss what makes the company different. But the internal perspective is incomplete.
Customers don’t judge value based on the effort the company puts in. They judge it based on the results they experience. Has the company resolved the issue? Did this make their work easier? Did this reduce the risk? PwC’s customer experience research reinforces this point. PwC reported that 73% of consumers say customer experience is an important factor in purchasing decisions. Value is not defined in a conference room. It is validated in customer relations.
Start with discovery, not messaging
When a company wants to become more customer-centric, the first step is not to improve communication. This is a better discovery. Employees across all functions should be asked what the company does well, where it creates value, and what customers consistently value.
The company must then turn outward. Customer interviews should explore what customers actually value, not just whether they are satisfied. Satisfaction can be polite. The value is more specific. Leaders should ask themselves: What problem were you trying to solve when you chose us? Which results matter most to you? Where have we made your business easier, better, faster or more efficient?
These conversations often reveal surprises. A company may believe that customers value its technical expertise most, while customers may place a higher value on responsiveness. It’s not a weakness. This is insight.
Separate skills from differentiators
The goal is to understand which capabilities are a concern, which make sense to customers, and which truly differentiate the company. The organization can then translate these assets into results for customers. For example, “we are responsive” is generic. “We help our customers avoid downtime because our team resolves urgent issues in hours, not days” is more meaningful. It connects a capability to a customer outcome.
Align the organization around the promise
A value proposition must guide the organization’s behavior. If the company promises responsiveness, the processes must enable rapid decisions. While it promises expertise, employees need training and access to knowledge. Marketing must express this. Sales needs to communicate this. Operations must provide it.
I’ve found that this works particularly well when companies involve non-sales employees in conversations with customers. Once these operators were included in conversations with prospects, customers would hear directly from the people who would perform the work. This created credibility, improved alignment between promise and delivery, and helped the company grow without simply recruiting more salespeople.
Advocacy is proof of value
Advocacy should be more than promotion. That should be proof. When customers describe the value they receive, they help the business understand what really works. Their stories become evidence for prospects, coaching material for sales managers, reinforcement for employees, and feedback for leadership.
Closing the gap
The gap between value proposition and value proposition can be bridged by listening carefully, aligning honestly, and delivering consistent results. For managers, a simple diagnosis can help:
Ask your employees: “Why should customers choose us?” » Then ask your customers: “Why do you choose us?” »
If the answers differ, seem generic, or focus primarily on internal capabilities, the work is not done. Customer-centric strategy starts with what customers actually value. Growth follows when the organization clearly defines this value, aligns around it, implements it consistently, and proves it through customer experience.
John Ravaris has spent his career helping businesses stand out in competitive markets. With over thirty-five years of marketing and sales leadership experience, he has worked in product and service-based organizations, as well as private equity-backed environments, selling directly and through distribution. In 2023, John founded UVPsolutions, a consulting firm dedicated to helping small and medium-sized businesses create compelling and unique value propositions and build growth-enhancing organizations. He is the author of “Define Value, Drive Growth: Building a Business That Customers Choose and Competitors Envy“.
