The 10x Value Obsession
Give customers ten times the value they have any right to expect
- Difficulty
- Moderate
- Time to result
- ~months to results
- Steps
- 3
- Confidence
- 80%
Sharma's principle is to give customers ten times the value they have any right to expect, which he calls a formula for building a global base of fanatical followers. It stands against what he sees as the collective deprofessionalization of business, where owners try to extract as much money as possible while giving as little value as possible, a behavior he traces to scarcity and fear. The mechanism is that generosity and quality are felt by consumers — people sniff the sincerity in a product — so overdelivering becomes a genuine business strategy rather than a cost. He cites Steve Jobs wanting iPhone icons so gorgeous users would want to lick the screen: obsession with pushing beauty into the world, with fame and fortune as byproducts.
Origin
Extracted from Robin Sharma's discussion of craft and mastery in The Wealth Money Can't Buy, echoing Ted Turner and Rotary founder Paul Harris that the one who serves best profits the most.
Core principles
- 01The one who serves best profits the most
- 02Generosity beats scarcity every day
- 03People feel the intention you put into your work
- 04Money is magic delivered into the marketplace
How to run it
- 1
Ask the value question
Frame every piece of work around how you may deliver outrageous value to as many people as possible.
- 2
Overdeliver past the transaction
Deliberately exceed the minimum needed to close the sale, adding beauty and care the market has no right to expect.
Pro tip People feel quality and intention even when they cannot name the extra effort.
- 3
Work from generosity, not scarcity
Root the effort in abundance rather than fear that there is not enough, because scarcity produces mediocrity that customers can sense.
Pro tip Journal on where you may be withholding generosity, then close that gap.
Watch out Extracting maximum money for minimum value is the scarcity behavior to avoid.
In the wild
Sharma contrasts a scarcity restaurant — unbeautiful room, indifferent culture, stale food, owner trying to take as much money for as little value as possible — with restaurants in Rome where the owner cares so much that mozzarella di bufala is driven up from Puglia at four in the morning. They treat you like family in a simple but beautiful room, and the generosity itself becomes a strong business strategy that builds a devoted following.
→ The generous operator builds a movement of loyal customers while the scarcity operator stays forgettable.
Common mistakes
Shipping minimum viable product to grab cash
Doing the least to get the transaction signals scarcity and mediocrity that customers feel, killing loyalty and word of mouth.
Is it for you?
Best for
Founders, creators and service providers who want durable word-of-mouth and fanatical customers.
Not ideal for
Pure commodity plays competing solely on lowest price and speed.
From the transcript
“Give your customers 10 times the value they have any right to expect and that's a formula for building a global base of fanatical followers.”
“the one who serves the best profits the most”
From the episode
Why $1,000,000,000 Won’t Make You Happy - Robin Sharma - #784
Robin Sharma