I’ve written about value propositions and their building blocks (resulting experiences) much in these pages. Companies should identify the experiences they want their customers to have as a result of working with them.
I tend to use consumer examples because they are relatable. I have written an exhaustive piece on TV remotes for the elderly. B2B examples are much less relatable. It is easy to get twisted in knots identifying experiences for end-use consumers and intermediaries. But the other night, I stumbled upon what I hope is a perfectly relatable B2B example.
Resulting Experiences – A Relatable Example
I went to a local Minor League baseball game and visited the concession stand immediately. As I was shuffling in line, I watched the guys making hamburgers. One guy dealt out frozen patties onto the humongous grill while his buddy was in charge of the cheese. I watch the cheese guy struggle with a block of sliced cheese. It had been sliced but put back together into a brick. So, he labored to separate each slice from the block.
Imagine
Now, imagine you work for a cheese company and that sports venues are one of the essential customer groups in your company. Let’s face it; you probably aren’t spending much time in market research of the qualities of cheese that sports fans prefer. Instead, you most likely focus on providing the lowest-cost bare minimum quality cheese in bulk to these sports venues.
But, what if you spent a day in the life of the guy at the ballpark separating cheese slices? You know the kind of cheese I’m talking about. Sure, the block is pre-sliced. Over the course of the evening, due to the heat from the summer night, the kitchen, and the guy’s hands, the block becomes progressively warmer. The slices become even harder to separate.
The guy learns that it’s best to take the block out of the freezer and immediately start separating. He might even make beautiful spiral artwork so that he can quickly grab an edge when it’s time to adorn a hamburger patty with a slice of cheese. But this takes time. Precious time. Have you seen the line!?!
What If
What if your cheese company could provide beautiful spiral stacks of cheese? The end-use consumer would be indifferent (maybe), but the guy whose job it is to glorify each patty with a slice of cheese would be overjoyed.
Indeed, there will be other considerations like cost, space, and others. My point in this blog is to offer a business-to-business example where we can all relate to the concession stand guy’s plight (er, experience).
Do it a little differently. Do it a little better. And, most importantly do it in a way your target audience wants. This is the best way to create success.
Thanks for your comment, Teddy! Indeed, Mike Vance in Think Out of the Box says it’s OK to improve upon something that exists “by romancing it to a new level of excellence.”