The Law of Value
By Bob Burg
Shifting your focus from getting to giving (providing immense value to others) is not only a more pleasant way of conducting business; it’s the most financially profitable way, as well.
But isn’t that naïve? Not when you consider that your prospective client is not going to buy from you because you’d like the sale, but rather because they believe they’ll be better off by doing so than by not doing so.
And the salesperson who can genuinely move their focus off of themselves and onto their prospect is the person who is most likely going to create the sale.
Value is The Foundation
In John David Mann’s and my book, The Go-Giver we state The Law of Value as, “Your true worth is determined by how much more you give in value than you take in payment.”
But, does that mean you don’t make a profit, or even that you lose money? Obviously that wouldn’t be a productive way to run a business. So, no, it certainly doesn’t mean that.
It’s important to understand the difference between “price” and “value.”
Price is a dollar amount, a dollar figure. It’s finite.
Value, on the other hand, is the relative worth or desirability of a thing, to the end user or beholder. In other words, what is it about this product or service that brings so much worth, or value, to someone that’s they’ll willingly exchange their money for it and be very glad they did? This while you make a very healthy profit.
A Superb Experience
Ernesto’s Italian Café is a fairly high-priced and upscale restaurant. From the moment you walk in you’re made to feel like a VIP, greeted with kindness and respect. Your wait-team is professional, friendly, immensely competent, and handles themselves with class.
The food is amazing and the presentation spectacular. The ambiance is wonderful, your entire experience absolutely superb.
Your bill was certainly higher than at most restaurants. But you didn’t mind at all because the overall experience was worth much more to you in value than what you paid. Yes, while the price was X the value you received was X times 10.
The owner, Ernesto, gave you much more in value than he took in payment. However, his costs, including staff, equipment, space, and food, were much less than what he paid so he made a very healthy profit.
When correctly giving more in value than you take in payment you and your buyer both profit because you both come away better off afterwards than you were beforehand.
It’s up to you and your team to communicate that value through everything you say, do…and are.
And, the key is your shift in focus. Rather than being focused on the money you’re focused on providing massive value to your customer.
Know that “money is simply an echo of value.” As such the value must be your focus. The money you receive is the natural result of the value you provide.
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Bob Burg is coauthor of the international bestselling business parable, The Go-Giver (more than 975,000 copies sold in 29 languages) and the sales classic, Endless Referrals.
Watch Bob’s free online video mini-course, “Selling The Go-Giver Way” at
https://thegogiver.com/selling/
