Customer Value is a long-known concept that arose in the past years as customer centricity grew in many companies. We spoke to Benjamin Easaw, to understand more about it. Benjamin is a highly accomplished Customer Experience (CX) expert dedicated to helping businesses excel in delivering exceptional value to their customers.
Definition and methodology of Customer Value
1. What is customer value?
At its most basic level, customer value refers to the perceived benefits and advantages a customer receives from their engagements with a brand’s products and services. These benefits may be explicit or implicit and can span many dimensions like functional, emotional, monetary, or even social. While the perception of value can be quite fluid, a company that effectively fulfills this perceived value will consistently achieve high levels of satisfaction. This can also lead to increased revenue generation.
2. How do you measure it?
I don’t think it’s as simple as just using common customer metrics like NPS, CES, etc. It’s more complex than that. I believe there are ways a business can measure and deliver experiences their customers value. In the customers’ minds, it’s about what they get versus what they must give up. In a 2019 report, Forrester Research1 posited four dimensions of value that influence a customer’s perception: Economic, Functional, Experiential, and Symbolic. A company should map out its offerings across these dimensions. Subsequently, they should identify which set of metrics would effectively indicate the delivery of consistent on-brand experiences. Self-Realized Value (SRV), a concept I developed many years ago, is a strategic framework an organization can use to identify how their customers perceive value.
1 Value for Customers: The Four Dimensions That Matter; Forrester Research, July 10, 2019; Maxie Schmidt-Subramanian and Shar VanBoskirk
Customer Value and it’s impact and role within a company
3. What is its impact on a business?
If properly measured and implemented, the impact in the business can be exponential. Besides increased revenue and lower cost to serve, there may be social and functional benefits. In a former engagement I was leading, there was a heightened focus on innovation as the firm gained additional insights into what customers value. The pharmaceutical sector is a great example. They demonstrate a remarkable ability to adapt a drug initially designed for one specific condition. Through testing, they identify extra attributes that customers appreciate, allowing them to reposition the same drug for a new target audience, thereby broadening their sources of revenue.
4. What departments of an organization should aware and affected by the customer value metric?
I’m a firm believer that customer data should be democratized in an organization. A core set should be published and available to everyone, although the detailed data may be specifically available to certain areas according to their roles. Certain key stakeholders and departments will have actions to take based on these metrics. For others, it may be just FYI, but the entire organization should be aware of customer metrics and their impact on the business.
Customer Value vs other indicators
5. Where does Customer Value sit in comparison to CSAT/NPS/Customer Experience?
It’s not a comparison at all. Customer Value (CV) can’t be done in a vacuum or without maintaining Business Value (BV). Both must be equally represented synergistically for CX to be successful in any organization. Chasing a score has never boded well for CX efforts. Sentiment Durability is a concept I’ve taught for many years and it’s adjacent to the Self-Realized Value (SRV) I mentioned above. The various metrics are purely signals in this CX dance. CV and BV should dance well together to sustain and scale customer experience initiatives.
Conclusions
The conversation was thrilling for us! We enjoyed exchanging thoughts with an expert of the size and recognition of Benjamin. At Worthix, we addition the competitive landscape in the analysis customer’s do when evaluating a company’s offer. This means that in our definition of Customer Value there are three main ingredients: benefits (emotional and racional), costs (time, effort and money) and the other alternatives available in the market (competitors).
It’s clear that Customer Value is a topic that will continue to get increasing attention from any C-suit executive who aims to remain relevant to its customers. Thankfully, due to AI tools now available at a larger scale and more affordable prices, many companies will be able to measure this impactful indicator to deliver what customers value the most.
About Benjamin Easaw
Benjamin Easaw is a highly accomplished Customer Experience (CX) expert dedicated to helping businesses excel in understanding, organizing, and innovating to deliver exceptional value to their customers. He has an impressive track record of over 20 years as a CX consultant and practitioner across diverse brands and industries. Ben leverages his deep expertise to develop original and practical strategies rooted in foundational CX competencies, driving transformative organizational improvements.
Recognizing the evolving landscape of customer behavior, Ben has pioneered modern concepts in CX. For example; Experience Principles (XP), Self-Realized Value (SRV), and Sentiment Durability. These concepts have renewed experience delivery, particularly in digital engagements, empowering businesses to support the complete customer lifecycle with value and impact.
As a keynote speaker, Ben shares his insights and CX strategies with audiences at all leadership levels. He is an active member of the Customer Experience Professionals Association (CXPA) and proudly holds the prestigious Certified Customer Experience Professional (CCXP) certification. Benjamin’s dedication to advancing the field is evident in his role as Vice Chair for the CCXP Advisory Board, where he contributes to shaping standards and best practices. Additionally, he generously provides mentorship to aspiring CX practitioners, nurturing talent and fostering future leaders in the field.
Ben’s educational background includes a Bachelor of Science in Computer Information Systems (CIS). Ben is married with two kids and resides in Dallas, Texas.
About Worthix
We help companies bridge the gap between what they offer and what their customers value. We use AI technology to hold in-depth conversations at scale with our client’s customers. These insights translate into a C-suit-level dashboard designed as a 3-step cycle.
Worthix tracks what value means to customers, then combines it with metadata to find actionable opportunities and finally, invites them to co-create solutions.
Founded by Guilherme Cerqueira in 2015, Worthix is a SaaS company headquartered in Atlanta. It is now present in USA, Mexico, and Brazil, with dozens of leading companies as clients in 6 countries.
