VALUE-DRIVEN CONSULTING

Phuoc D. Nguyen

Value-driven consulting firms should showcase a ‘charismatic value idea’ to clients and they are difficult to find this value idea on other consulting brands and services. Payne, Frow, and Eggert (2017) proposed a working definition of the CVP: “A customer value proposition (CVP) is a strategic tool facilitating communication of an organization’s ability to share resources and offer a superior value package to targeted customers.” (p. 472). A value proposition (VP) is a promise and a commitment to the value of consulting services provided to clients. A VP is also the belief of clients about the value they will receive from a consulting services provider when clients who will spend their money and investment to buy consulting services.

A VP does not tell consulting services that consulting firms are offering but it must express the expected and appreciated values by clients. Aitken and Paton (2016) defined “Total customer value, against which total customer costs are to be offset, include utility value and psychic value, the latter acknowledging the subjective and individualistic aspects of value perception.” (p. 224). For the VP, clients know in advance what they can expect in consulting services before they decide to buy them. VP’s content should convince clients that these consulting services have special values in comparison with other consulting firms. Kowalkowski (2011) indicated to “Realize the benefits of adopting the perspective, strategic decision-makers need to be aware of the key determinants of ‘value emphasis’ elucidated here and to recognize the characteristics of ‘value-in-exchange’ and ‘value-in-use’ to the reciprocal processes of establishing a value proposition”. (p. 288). To write a great VP a consulting partner needs to understand the needs of clients in the targeted market segmentation that he/she wants to target and motivate clients’ motive, this leads to clients’ consulting services buying decisions.