Assessing Value-in-Use
THE RESEARCH
The benefits customers enjoy are heightened by the experience of consuming and using your products and services. This is called Value-in-Use.
A four-year detailed research study by Cranfield University, utilising the Product-Service Systems IMRC / EPSRC funding [grant number IMRC 144], revealed that it is important to understand that the customer Value-in-Use varies over time; hence an assessment performed in one year may not produce the same results as in subsequent years. Our study also showed that in a business-to-business context, the Value-in-Use varies from end-user to decision-maker.
The research was undertaken in three phases. The first involved the application of an in-depth repertory grid case using a product-service supplier and its customer organisations. 39 repertory grids were generated, which elicited 411 Value-in-Use attributes. Second, a survey with 320 respondents (an even mix of end-users and decision-makers) was carried out to generalise the Value-in-Use findings from the previous phase. The final phase focused on the use of an analytical hierarchy process to help organisations make better decisions for improving the delivery of customer Value-in-Use.
THE OUTPUTS
The Workbook
Understanding the real value your customers get from your organisation's product-service is the most powerful way to assess customer Value-in-Use, and focuses on analysis of the consumption process. The objective of this workbook is to provide you with a clear, simple and reliable guidelines to help your organisation assess your customers’ Value-in-Use.
This is the first practice book that provides guidelines for organisations to assess their customers' Value-in-Use. A thorough analysis via the application of this workbook would allow you to understand:
- Key attributes that your customer appreciates from your product-service offering.
- The most frequent attributes of your product-service offering.
- The role of your attributes to develop a new contract and/or renew an existing one.
The methods described in the workbook require collaboration between customers and suppliers in order to achieve the best results.
If you are interested in receiving a copy of the workbook, please email Lisa Hall referencing the title:
Assessing Value-in-Use of Product-Service Systems: a step by step guide.
The Management Tool
This Visual Demonstrator for Assessing Value-in-Use has been produced to help organisations to assess their customers' Value-in-Use.
The objective of this demonstrator is to provide you with a simple tester to assess the Value-in-Use your customers are getting from your product-service offerings. This takes 8-10 minutes of your time.
The tool uniquely assesses the customer’s Value-in-Use through a psychology technique based on basic mathematical comparisons of different product-service suppliers.
Try the Visual Demonstrator for Assessing Value-in-Use
Read our academic and industry papers