Do Your B2B Customers Actually See the Value You're Creating?

Many B2B companies share a longstanding blind spot: the company delivers real value to a customer who can't clearly see it, measure it, or justify it to their own leadership. In Harvard Business Review, Wendy Wise and Doug May call this the "value gap" — the disconnect between the value a company creates and the value the customer actually perceives.

The problem is especially dangerous because it stays hidden for so long. While sales are growing fast, the gap doesn't stand out — the revenue chart keeps climbing regardless. But the moment growth slows or a cheaper competitor enters the market, the customer suddenly can't explain, even to themselves, why they're paying that particular price.

The result is predictable: renewal decisions stall, pricing pressure builds, and growth opportunities slip away. Leadership often only recognizes the problem once revenue has already started to decline.

According to the authors, closing this gap isn't a one-off project but a deliberate decision leadership needs to make. That starts with systematically identifying exactly what value is being created for the customer, then embedding that value — backed by numbers and evidence — directly into the sales process itself.

This isn't limited to the sales team: marketing, customer service, product development, and pricing all need to align around the same logic of demonstrating value to the customer. The authors conclude that companies that make customer value visible and measurable are the ones positioned for sustainable growth and lasting competitive advantage.