Value is one of the most widely used terms in health care and yet it is something that companies rarely associate with their reputation.

Reservoir recently built a new reputation framework (Reservoir Value GPS) predicated on value that measures how various stakeholders assess value. The model can be applied to an enterprise, a franchise or business unit, or even a product.

Value is at the center of the work done across the entire enterprise of any health care company: Commercial leaders are laser-focused on telling the value story of products and services, “brand value” is one of the most important metrics for marketers, and the C-Suite is concentrated on communicating and delivering shareholder value. And yet, it has been unusual to think about value across the full spectrum of the enterprise as something that is the very essence of reputation.

So, why assess value rather than admiration or trust or some other measure more commonly associated with reputation? From our perspective, these metrics tend to measure subconscious, ephemeral perceptions that are influenced by factors well beyond our control, and therefore, are   difficult to influence through communications. That isn’t to say that we shouldn’t seek admiration or trust with our audiences – of course we should. But if we are looking for specific things we can do that force rational reassessments, then value is a much more actionable construct.

Exploring value inherently leads to better insights because it is intuitive and more common to the way we already interact with and evaluate companies. Every day, each of us assesses the value of something – the things we buy, the people and organizations we deal with. That assessment is fundamentally a set of tradeoffs. For any given thing or activity, there are costs and benefits. The assessment of value is the weighing of those costs and benefits. Understanding what goes into that process can also help us to better understand how a given stakeholder constituency assesses value of a company, as well as a product or service.

Value is a more rational assessment which provides a more constructive way to engage with our stakeholders. Strategy can be built to maximize perceived benefits and minimize perceived costs. The beauty of a strategy based on value is that it is tangible and understandable throughout the enterprise. The question of why reputation matters is baked into the methodology. We are doing this so that we understand and respond to what our stakeholders value.

There is an old saying that you “get what you measure.” That’s true, as long as what you are measuring is something you can meaningfully influence. We would reframe and say that you need to “measure what you can get” and focus on creating an understanding of what is actionable.

If you are interested in learning more about how we think about value, feel free to reach out.