Guy Reams (00:01.198)
This is day 34. Value is always built. So I was thinking today about large companies that have built something over time. They built a process for designing and building something, like something of value, like 3M or HP or Ford. So I thinking about companies that went into business to build one thing.
their business actually became the process of building, right? Which is interesting to me. So it got me to thinking about my own life or about what I try to present as valuable to somebody else. I mean, we're always in a situation, whether we are looking for a job or whether we are trying to sell something to a customer or we're trying to sell something to our boss or whatever.
We're trying to convince people to part with their money to us. So effectively, we're transaction in a value trade. We're trying to give them something of value in trade for money. Everybody has this negotiation going on at some point in their lives, right? My daughter came to me the other day asking me for some money. And I think she knew that asking me for the
for the money for her event she had to go to was a little above and beyond what I would normally do for her. I would have given it to her anyway, by the way, but she doesn't need to know this. But so she came to me and she knew instinctively that she had to provide something of value with a request. So she says, dad, I noticed your car is dirty. I'm like, yes. She goes, I can clean that car for you. I'm like, really?
And she goes, yeah, I need 20 bucks for my event tonight. But that's interesting that she instinctively knew that she had to provide something of value for and trade for the currency. So that got me to thinking, we're oftentimes wanting people to depart with money for value.
Guy Reams (02:22.136)
But I don't think we realize that in order for somebody to do in order for us to get to something of value, it doesn't happen just automatically. You have to actually build it. Like I had a young person tell me recently that college is dead. There's no reason to go to school anymore. And I thought that is that could potentially be true. If you were to go out and get a trade or a skill set that was highly valued.
And yeah, you probably don't need to go to school for that or to a formal university for that. You could go get that knowledge and skill set through some other means. And then yes, that would be something of value. But irregardless, it has to be built.
This idea that you can just, because you exist, that somebody should trade money for your time is ridiculous. In fact, it never happens. And if it does happen, you're just simply a body, a manpower or human power that can do a task that needs to be done and can be easily replaced. So if you expect people to depart money for your efforts, then you need to build value.
Now, historically, young people have learned to become something more of value by going to college. They learn to write, they learn to read, they learn to think, they learn to speak, they learn to interact, turn things in on time. They learn to show up. So this is a valuable employee. Somebody will show up and knows how to read, write, and think, speak. So that's how you build value is by going to university. You can still get that other means, sure.
But where are you going to build the value? So in order to get through the full development process, from idea to execution, you have to take each step along the process, right? In order for you to finally build a lot of value. So in my business, I'm always trying to convince customers to trade their money for value that we can provide. But it's not good enough for me just to tell you, I'm awesome, pay me money. That doesn't work.
Guy Reams (04:38.348)
You have to provide some depth of understanding of how you have built a process or how you have developed a way to understand, test, refine a process in order so that the customer doesn't have to do all those steps themselves and therefore they are willing to trade money for that value. So this is really important. In the technology and software business, it's really easy to understand. I mean,
Customers have a lot of underlying issues, technical debt, vulnerabilities, problems, challenges, whatever. And so, yeah, the more you can help them shortcut that, the more value that you provide. They want to move fast, but they need to know that you have built, you have tested these things out. You understand.
how to get through these things and you have a method that shortcuts them. So building value is an inescapable shortcut. So let's take this down to a personal level. If I want to make more money or I want to sell something more, then I have to work on building something that has value. I cannot just say I have something of value. It doesn't work like that.
In fact, every time I've tried this, it comes across as fake and false and too salesy. The only time that you can ever provide something of significant value to a customer is when you've actually built something of value. So you've taken the time to figure it out, to test it out, to try it out, to fumble around, right?
struggle through it, all of those things, right? I mean, you know, think about it. Why would the customer want to hire you when you went to do to, why would the customer pay for you to go fumble through all this stuff when they can just go fumble through it on their own, right? Why would they, why would they give you money to have you go fumble through it?
Guy Reams (06:57.656)
I don't know if I'm making any sense, but this is the idea that I had in my head, right? Like for example, some of the big consulting firms, like let's say McKinsey and Company or Accenture, these big consulting firms spent a long time refining and building a process or a framework or a methodology of dealing with something. So when they create a solution,
They have a framework and most people believe that when you hire them, they're going to take that years and years and years of following a framework and they're going to add, they're going to provide you a ton of value because they've already gone through this a million times. That's why you're hiring them, right? That's why you're paying $400 an hour to somebody instead of paying them $100 an hour because you believe
that $400 an hour is going towards not just one person doing the job, but towards a framework that that person doing the job is going to follow, if that makes sense. Think about this. When I think about vacuum cleaners, I think that the Dyson vacuum cleaner is the best one. That's what I think. Now, why do I think that? Right? Why is it that I've come under the impression
the Dyson vacuum cleaners are the best. That may or may not be a true claim or not. I don't know. I actually, I don't know. But one thing I do know is that James Dyson created a process that involved building thousands and thousands of prototypes over the years based on trial and error through research and development coming out of the product that solves particular well-known customer problems and challenges.
And when they launched their product, they launched it as being the highest priced product in the market. But that when you looked at all their branding material and you looked at their advertising, you knew that that was a premium well engineered product. There seemed to be value built into that product. And the value was that they engineered it. They went through all the pains and the challenges that you have when you're vacuuming stuff and they figured out a way to solve the problem.
Guy Reams (09:19.886)
So when I buy a Dyson, I'm not just buying a vacuum cleaner. I'm buying the vacuum cleaner. Plus, I'm buying all of this research and experience at trying to solve the common problems that we have in the vacuum cleaner business. So building value. You cannot shortcut it at all.
not only because customers will perceive it, but because it's actually true. So as I think about what could I do as a person to make more money or what could I do as a person to convince another person to pay me more money or go get more customers? The only way I'm ever going to do that is if I build what is called a value proposition.
And that value proposition builds over time. You cannot shortcut this process. You have to actually build something of value. Think about it. I'm looking right here. I have a snack on my desk.
And the snack is, on the back of it is this woman that created this trail mix company to create the perfect blend of trail mix with all the perfect nutrients. And she's talking all about her experience doing this for years and years and years and years and all the trial and errors she done. So I have this feeling that by buying this trail mix, I'm buying somebody who's had
Lots of trial and error coming up with the perfect trail mix. If you see this, now that I've said this, you'll look around and you'll see it everywhere, Anyway, my point is that you have to build value. You can't shortcut it. Nobody's going to give you money unless you actually build something of value or build yourself into something valuable.