One of the toughest aspects of documenting Total Cost is determining and gathering the cost information that must be used in the measurement. The best data to use are actual costs a specific customer incurs, but getting this information is often difficult and can be time consuming. We can help you to determine the specific costs your products and services impact, to assign a dollar value to these costs and prove the Total Cost impact you have on your customers’ bottom line.

Standard Industry Costs: Industry standards are estimates of average costs based on information from a number of companies within that industry. While not as accurate as a specific company’s numbers, they can be used to open a cost discussion with a particular customer or can be used across a number of accounts. We can help you identify standard industry costs for the customers you serve and the Total Cost categories your products and services are most likely to impact.

Cost Impact: Most companies know and sell the features and benefits of the products and services they provide. However, they often do not understand all of the customer costs these same products and services impact. We can help you research with your customers the specific costs you impact and the savings your products and services help them to accomplish.

Total Cost Modeling: Saving the customer money does little good if they do not accept the savings as real. Often this is a matter of how the savings are presented or discussed with a company. Different industries use different terms to express “real” dollar impact. There may also be an issue of understanding which savings are most critical to your customers. Through total cost modeling, we can help you look at how best to illustrate the savings your value provides in order to increase the probability of your customer accepting the savings.