Sales without customer value is like a Ponzi scheme—it feels good in the moment, but it’s destined to end badly.

Too many organizations are hyper-focused on selling products and services, fixating on short-term metrics like sales targets and revenue recognition points like installation dates. Hitting those milestones might create a temporary high, but they’re far from reliable measures of long-term success. Why? Because they ignore a critical factor: Value.

The Cost of Ignoring Value

When customers don’t find value in what they buy, the consequences are predictable and costly. Products get returned, subscriptions go unrenewed, and dissatisfied customers actively discourage others from doing business with you. This creates long-term problems for companies:

• Customer churn increases

• Customer lifetime value decreases

• Sales pipelines thin out

• Innovation signals grow weaker

Does that sound like a recipe for long-term success? Of course not. Yet many organizations remain addicted to sales numbers, failing to embrace the cornerstone of enduring growth: delivering real customer value.

Introducing the Point of Value (PoV)

Organizations often celebrate the Point of Sale (PoS) as a significant milestone, and for good reason. It’s the moment when a customer decides to invest in a product or service. But while the PoS signals an influx of revenue, it does not guarantee success. Success only comes when customers realize the benefits they expected from their purchases.

That’s why I introduced the concept of the Point of Value (PoV) in a blog post in June 2010, which is defined as:

The point at which customers get the value they were expecting from their purchase and are satisfied with their decision.

The PoV represents more than just customer satisfaction—it’s the validation of the purchase decision. It’s the moment when true customer loyalty begins.

The Engagement Phase: Where Value is Realized

• Software Company: After purchasing and installing software, the customer completes onboarding, integrates the software into their workflows, and starts seeing tangible improvements like time savings or increased productivity.
• Electronics Retailer: After buying a TV, the customer sets up the device, connects it to other systems, and enjoys the promised features, like high-quality streaming or smart functionality.
• Financial Institution: After opening a new account, the customer uses the service seamlessly, managing finances online, earning rewards, or accessing credit without issues.
• Healthcare Provider: After a procedure, the patient experiences improved health outcomes, such as relief from symptoms, successful recovery, or preventive benefits.

The engagement phase isn’t optional—it’s the essential bridge that turns promises into reality and ensures customers reach their PoV.

The Loyalty Illusion

Think about your own experiences. How many times have you made a purchase, only to feel regret or frustration soon after? Maybe the product didn’t live up to expectations, the service was lacking, or the company simply disappeared once they had your money. That’s not loyalty—that’s a transaction.

True loyalty isn’t about repeat purchases alone. It’s about advocacy. Customers become loyal when they don’t just buy again but actively recommend your company, defend your brand, and feel a sense of connection to your mission.

Loyal customers:

• Feel confident in their purchase decision long after the sale

• Experience consistent value that reinforces their trust in the brand

• Recommend and advocate because they believe in what the company delivers

On the flip side, customers who never reach their Point of Value may stay silent—but they won’t stay long. They may not complain, but they also won’t renew, refer, or engage. This quiet churn is one of the most dangerous risks to long-term business success.

And Then There’s Buyer’s Remorse

It’s a sign of a broken engagement phase. A signal that the value wasn’t clear, timely, or compelling. That’s why helping customers reach their Point of Value isn’t just about loyalty—it’s about reinforcing their decision before regret sets in.

How Much Do You Value… Value?

Take a hard look at your organization. How much time, energy, and resources are devoted to hitting sales targets? Now compare that to the effort invested in ensuring customers derive value from their purchases. If the scales tip heavily toward sales, you’re likely under-focused on the engagement phase and setting yourself up for failure.

To understand your commitment to the Engagement Phase, reflect on these three elements:

1. Customer Value Understanding: Does your organization have a clear and specific understanding of customers’ value expectations?

2. Customer Value Measurement: Are you measuring the achievement and timing of customer value?

3. Customer Value Ownership: Is there clear executive ownership and adequate resources dedicated to achieving customer value?

Sparking New Leadership Thinking

1. Establish a dedicated engagement team. Create a cross-functional team responsible for the engagement phase, comprising members from sales, customer success, product development, and support. Task this team with actively monitoring and improving the customer journey from the Point of Sale (PoS) to the Point of Value (PoV). Empower them with the authority to implement process improvements and allocate resources as needed.

2. Incorporate PoV metrics into leadership dashboards. Expand your executive dashboard to include PoV-focused KPIs like time to value, adoption rates, and engagement health scores. Elevate these metrics to the same level of importance as revenue, signaling that achieving PoV is as critical as closing deals.

3. Develop “early win” strategies. Design touchpoints that deliver quick, tangible wins for customers within the first 30 days post-sale. Early wins build momentum and confidence, helping customers see immediate progress toward their goals. For instance, a software company might ensure a key workflow is operational within the first week.

4. Host PoV postmortems for lost customers. When a customer churns before achieving PoV, conduct a detailed analysis to identify root causes. Treat these as opportunities for improvement rather than isolated failures. Look for recurring patterns and refine engagement strategies to address common gaps.

5. Tie executive incentives to PoV success. Align leadership compensation with PoV outcomes to prioritize the engagement phase. For example, link bonuses to metrics such as customer retention rates or the percentage of customers achieving PoV within a set timeframe. This reinforces a commitment to long-term customer value over short-term sales goals.

The Bottom Line

A sale is a promise, not a victory. If customers don’t get the value they expect, that deal you just closed is the start of their disappointment—not their loyalty. Lasting success comes from bridging the gap between purchase and payoff, ensuring customers achieve real outcomes. In the long-run, it’s not about what you sell—it’s about what they gain.