The expression “creating customer value” is so widely used that it is almost worn out. To create customer value is of course to create something that the customer will value, i.e. be prepared to pay for. If customer value for a consumer, which is both rational and emotional, is based on dimensions that consumer marketing has been exploring for a long time and is now perfectly familiar with, the value for a B2B/B2G customer is more rational, more complex and less defined, as customers can have different profiles.

 However, it is imperative to understand in detail what “makes value” for a specific customer as well as for a homogeneous group of customers, and for each of the internal or external decision makers or influencers. This value can be very different from one client to another, depending on its business, size, internal organisation, processes or local culture, for example. It can also be very different between a private client who “does business” and a public client who has a “mission to fulfil”. Understanding customer value in all its dimensions, as well as its evolution over time, is an essential challenge for the B2B/B2G high-tech company if it hopes to make a profit on the investments, particularly technical investments, that it will have made in developing advanced products or services or complex solutions. Any misunderstanding of customer value will be extremely costly as it, together with competitive benchmarking, is the key to profitable value propositions.

This section explores and illustrates the different aspects of customer value and customer value creation in the B2B/B2G world.