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In the quest for profit and success, the customer’s needs and success can easily get lost when entrepreneurs forget to be motivated by it. How can an entrepreneur ensure they are building strong customer relationships, building long-term value and zoning in on their own value proposition? Entrepreneur and co-founder of Hurdlr Raj Bhaskar shares his tactics, lessons and thoughts on what entrepreneurs should be prioritizing.
When you listen and ask the right questions, that’s how you refine your value proposition. Your value proposition should stand on its own. -Raj Bhaskar
Takeaways + Tactics
Consumers expect a certain level of service with anything they buy, as a business owner how can you think of providing anything less than that?
Don’t underestimate the cost of customer acquisition.
The typical definition of profit is earnings (minus) expenses but it’s actually earnings (minus) expenses (minus) taxes.
We kicked off the show with a quick overview of Raj’s career. He first launched VisualHOMES and sold it to Yardi, and he noted that his company managed to retain all its staff since the acquisition because of the long-term value they built there. He believes that refining the value proposition is the secret to customer success and increasing profit. Raj gave an example of cold calling and the benefit of the two-way conversation. “You should be listening most of the time and asking the right questions, that’s how you refine your value proposition.”
Raj went onto share a goal he had early in his career. He aimed to work with the top 500 agencies in the industry. We discussed the importance of knowing the industry as the route to providing real value to customers and clients. Raj also stated what he believes a true brand is, “it’s all the actions you take in a period of time. How people perceive your company is what your brand becomes.” Ultimately there is a difference between marketing hype and customer success and the latter should be more important.
Value also has a lot to do with your own core values. “I only have one set of values, those are the personal values I apply to business.” A lot of entrepreneurs mistakenly try to keep up with a certain lifestyle at the expense of their own core values.
In business, long term value is an asset and that comes down to long term value and not seeing your business as a means to an end. This means putting customer success at the forefront, aiming to have a personal connection with them and valuing working in the business as much as working on the business. “A consumer expects a certain level of service with anything they buy, as a business owner, how can you think of providing anything less than that?”
We went onto discuss:
Hurdlr, the app that Raj cofounded to help entrepreneurs manage costs and taxes on the go Strategic expenses in your business and expenses that are tax deductible Business expenses where you get multiple dollars back when you spend one dollar (lead generation, for example) Not underestimating the cost of customer acquisitionA lot of entrepreneurs miss opportunities by seeing their ventures as a means to an end instead of working on developing long-term value. To succeed, the path to value proposition should go by customer success. At the end of the day the value will stand on its own.
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Raj Bhaskar is the Cofounder and CEO of Hurdlr, a mobile business management app for busy entrepreneurs. Previously, he was the Owner/CEO of VisualHOMES, a leading provider of property management software designed specifically for subsidized housing programs. To learn more about Hurdlr or download the app
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