3 Value Strategies

A number of best-selling authors, including Michael Porter, have talked about 2 or 3 general value propositions organizations can choose to focus on delivering to their customers. These should be the foundation of any complete strategy or strategic planning process.

Value Strategies:

1. Lowest Total Cost. 2. Best Total Solution. 3. Best Product/Service.

These Value Strategies encompass two elements:

1. The Value Proposition. 2. The Operating Model

Let's take look at an example:

Staples, the office supply store. What's their tag line? I'll tell ya..."that was easy." They build their marketing around the "EASY BUTTON." So, their value proposition is to deliver ease-of-use, convenience, and speed. Therefore, their operating model must be designed to implement and deliver those components of value in a way that makes them different and keeps the promise to the customer of making it easy.

Does this sound obvious? I bet it does. So why do companies fail to stay true to their value strategy and constantly slip into creating an operating model that looks like any generic company?