There were so many great ideas on innovation and growth from our Maryland Business and Accounting EXPO, we are going to do a series of posts and related topics over the summer.

This one was inspired by author / consultant / marketing guru Seth Godin’s post, “No such thing as price pressure.” He makes the case that you don’t need to lower your price; you need to increase your value. If they are balking at your price, it is because you are not delivering enough value. He finishes with, “You are not selling a commodity unless you want to.” Great point, Seth. (By the way, I recommend any of Seth’s books for your summer reading list.)

This same point was made at the Expo by author / consultant / friend Ron Baker, who continues to evangelize this in the professional services world. His session on “Pricing on Purpose” at our Expo is also the title of his book — another great resource to add to your summer reading list.

Our keynote speaker, Jim Swartz, also made this point in his session titled, “10% or Die,” in which he makes the point that we need to constantly improve our organizations to find 10 percent per year in value added to our customers and / or efficiencies through cost reductions in order to survive.

This is also what the lean movement is all about (and it is not just about manufacturing). We will be sponsoring the Lean Accounting Summit again on Sept. 17 and 18 in Las Vegas. If you are interested in how to figure this out, I recommend this conference.