Great comment! And, it’s one of the core reasons I started ActusMR. I believe that it’s one of the biggest challenges of small and mid-size firms within our industry. They’re so busy managing the operations side of business, that this is something that is a “need to address” topic, but often doesn’t get accomplished. When it is, often it’s without real tangible value. I’ve learned that it’s often something that most know they need put more emphasis on, but have a hard time effectively doing it. I have developed ways to help get at some of those value driven statements and differentiations in a very effective manner, which is one of the ways ActusMR helps those client looking to take their future more seriously. Thanks for your feedback and validation of one of the biggest challenges that many of our fellow research professionals face.

I find that the biggest contributor to this is an inability to articulate a solid value proposition to prospects and customers. Because a company can’t clearly communicate the value of their offering, they use the only lever left to win the business – price.

The best investment of time most small business owners could make is to develop a clear, compelling value proposition. This isn’t always easy to do, but is critical to escape the price-competition death spiral.

The key is to create a value proposition where the business can credibly demonstrate a positive return on the customer’s investment. When a business can do this, price objections quickly fade away.