At the LERN Annual Conference in Baltimore, Senior Vice President Greg Marsello fount that his presentation on value creation was as popular as ever. Greg feels that this show that programs continue to need strategies to demonstrate their value both internally within in their institution, and externally within their local and/or national/international communities. LERN’s technical definition of Value Creation is “The performance of actions that increase the worth of goods (courses/events), services (contracts) or even a business (continuing education or lifelong learning unit). Many business operators (continuing education or lifelong learning leaders) now focus on value creation in the context of creating better value for customers (students/participants) and clientspurchasing its products and services.”
Below are some strategies to help create and express the value of your institution and your programing.
Strategy #01. Know Your Customer & Client Base
As much as we would like to service everyone in our communities, we can’t be everything to everyone so it is important to know your best customers/students so you can best serve them and market to them. It is important to collect and analyze your customer’s/student’s demographic and purchasing history to create your 7 primary market segments. Once you understand who your best customers are, it is important to know the difference between generations, understand the importance of repeat rate and to understand that your next best customers will be demographically similar to your current best customers.
Strategy #02. Know Your Value Proposition
It is important to know your Unique Selling Proposition and what sets you apart from your competition. You should also realize that your value is not necessarily a product or service, but the way your operate, and this value is decided by your customers/students not you. Once you know and live your value proposition, you want to zealously repeat it over and over.
Strategy #03. Leverage Customer Value
Below are some great ways to leverage your customer value:
-Testimonials
-Customer/client references
-Case studies
-Guest speaking
-Executive hour
-Referrals
-Account penetration
* Instructors can be used to leverage value
Strategy #04. Create a Competitive Advantage
It is important to establish brand loyalty by providing great customer service and an excellent customer experience. Make sure you and your instructors are experts on what you are selling and you are continually updating your product/service areas, market segments and delivery methods. Consider providing incentives to remain with your continuing education or lifelong learning unit.
Strategy #05. Align Operations to Deliver Value
Make sure you have the right people in the right seats and you a clear accountability chart so expectations are clear. Document all your procedures and processes, and make sure they are followed. Make sure the relationship between your programmers or sales people and your operations staff is seamless. Consider surveying your customers/students about your operations procedures and take their feedback to heart. Remember to always be consistent!
Strategy #06. Use Tools that Help Improve Performance, Create Value & Drive Execution
It is important to take advantage of the latest tools available to us in the world of continuing education. Make sure you have a streamlined and easy to use website that allows you to collect the data you need to make informed decisions. It is also important to have the tools necessary to analyze this data. Having the proper marketing and customer service tools is also necessary to prove and maintain your value.
Strategy #07. Use Key Performance Indicators to Guide Growth and Development
Make sure you have the proper benchmarks in place to evaluate your performance and progress. Use the LERN benchmarks for customer service, course programing, contract sales and marketing to start out and adjust them to fit the needs of your program and your customers.
Strategy #08. Apply Business Acumen and Market-Based Solutions to Achieve Meaningful Outcomes
Try to have the people and processes in place to make good judgments and quick decisions on issues such as refunds, new offerings and promotion methods. Consider using LERN’s 8-Stage Needs Assessment Model to select new initiatives. Try to balance mission and money, but make sure you have the money to provide the mission! Try to always increase your staff knowledge and intellectual capital. Shift from information to solutions and provide customers and clients answers.
Strategy #09. Use Financial Policies Designed to Weather Financial Storms
Strive to be financially self-sufficient and understand the difference between operating margin and net. Create a budget using percentages and generate reserves for investments and underperforming years.
Strategy #10. Communicate and Ensure All Partners Are on the Same Page
Know all your stakeholders and have an internal marketing plan, as well as using partners to promote your unit’s value. Make sure to recognize your partners and gather them once a year to help with your strategic planning process.