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THIS WEEK
Unless you can articulate your value ... you're toast!
ALSO IN THIS EDITION
Unless you can articulate your value ... you're toast!
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Cast your mind for a moment over your employees. Think about their performance and what they deliver. Can you name your best performers?
Next, think about businesses that you know. Can you name a small handful of the best performing businesses that you know?
Now comes some mind reading. Step inside my Gypsy tent, as I look deep into my crystal ball. As the incense haze clears, I predict that your top performing people and businesses all have one thing in common.
They know the value they add to you and are not afraid to draw your attention (either subtly or complete with marching bands and baton twirlers) to how good they are.
Let me explain. Yes, Maude in accounts may be a quiet achiever, but is she the one who gets the big pay-rises and promotions? Generally, quiet achievers remain quietly doing the same job year in year out. The person who is promoted is the person who at interview or performance reviews, can clearly state "I delivered XYZ through ... which resulted in ..."
 I used to teach people a mantra for answering selection criteria or questions "I did ... How I did it was ... and how I knew it was successful was ..." The people who took this mantra and applied it well, were the ones who gained promotions either within my team or for promotional positions elsewhere.
In business, who demands (and gets) the higher fees? The business you have never heard about, or the business whose walls are wallpapered with testimonials to their greatness, who regularly appear in award ceremonies and who are talked about in glowing terms in the media.
Are the successful business websites the ones whose websites are all about them, or the ones who tell you in complete and compelling terms exactly what results you will get from working with them and what brilliant results your business can expect from investing in their services.
And, the winners are ... the ones who can demonstrate the value that they add. Or, to put it another way, the difference that they make.
So, do YOU know the value that you add? Can you clearly articulate the 7 or 10 points of difference people get from working with you?
It is not as easy as it sounds. You need to look at both the financial and emotional difference people get from working with you.
To find this out, you could take your team away for a planning weekend, surrounded by reams of butcher's paper. You could think through all of the things that make your team great and document them into a list.
This is a good starting point, but the problem is that value is not defined by the person giving it – but by the person receiving it. There is a saying that an item is only as worth as much as someone is prepared to pay for it. The only way to find "what is the value" is to ask the person on the receiving end.
How can you find this out from your clients? You can ask them about the value that they perceive you can add at the beginning of working with them through targeted questioning, or you can do this at the end as part of the feedback process where you explore the things that your clients liked and valued about working with you.
Another technique is through working with a good copywriter who can put themselves in the place of the client and help you identify the value you add. By having an external viewpoint, you will get more accurate value definitions than if you do it "in-house".
Whichever way you choose to define your value, the key is to articulate the value that you add to people. If you can do this – you will achieve much higher success than if you are simply a quiet achiever.
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| HR Tip of the Week: How to show high performers that you value them |
 You have a high performer in your team. Someone who achieves results that others can only aspire to. You want to keep them in your business as long as possible ... but how can you do it?
Putting it simply, you need to show them in a way that they "get", that you value them. Following on from our lead article, value is defined by the recipient and not the giver. You may give them $1000 gift vouchers to the local hardware store, but unless that is important to them, then it will not make them feel valued.
Let's assume that you already pay your high performer well - better than your "so-so" performers. Remember, money is not a long term motivator, but unless you have the core in place it does act as a demotivator. What else can you do?
First you need to find out what the person values in life - what is important to them. If their family is important, then rewards that their family can share in and enjoy are a good choice. If the person values learning and education - then rewards that extend their knowledge are the way to go.
If the person values the limelight, then consider options such as public celebrations complete with trophies, with the team and managers present. If a person values sharing their expertise and being looked up to - then have the person profiled as a mentor in your team and have them present a short seminar to team members and clients.
The trick is find out what is important to the person, and show them that you value them in the same currency.
Given our focus this week on the value you add to people, this book is one of the classics on the topic.
If you struggle with defining your value, or are not sure how to charge what you are worth, then Value Based Fees by Alan Weiss needs to be on the top of your reading list.
My copy is very well thumbed, marked, annotated and referred to almost weekly - it is THAT useful!
Aside from looking at the question of your value, it explores other interesting areas including setting the correct fees, retainers and fees for non-consulting opportunities. If your business provides a service or if you are a consulting business, then Value Based Fees is essential reading.
Most teams are fine with day to day groups of customers, but what happens when there is a sudden rush of people? Does your team know what to do?
exuberantly yours
Ingrid
Heart Harmony
PS: This week's Small Business Tips blog included a post about "Does your help desk "help" people?"
Legal stuff: This newsletter is intended as only a general guideline for Australian businesses. You should seek specific advice for your situation rather than relying only on this newsletter
Earnings disclaimer. Some of the content may include advertorial information, which means I may receive financial compensation for the products I recommend. But - unless I know and trust the product, I will not recommend it.
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