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4.3.26 | DIGS.NET 37 Warren J Dow Publisher wdow@Southbaydigs.com 310.373.0142 PS: Stay enlightened, informed, and unruly - subscribe to the Marketing Muse newsletter for free at > MarketingMuse.substack.com/ Enter the URT, code for "Universally Resisted Truth." A URT is not necessarily hidden. In fact, most of the time it's sitting right there in plain sight. The reason it's "resisted" is because accepting it would require changing how we behave. And humans, as it turns out, are excellent at avoiding that sort of thing. Here is a "Universally Resisted Truth" (URT) that I've found in my personal and professional journey through life. URT #1 You make more money by not focusing on making money. Come again? Yes, that's right. Making money is a result of what came before it – creating and then exchanging value. It's all about the value first, not the money. This sounds obvious when stated plainly, yet you'd be amazed how many organizations reverse the order. They chase quarterly revenue targets, profit margins, and financial engineering while quietly neglecting the very thing that produces those outcomes in the first place: value. Money is an effect, not a cause. When I was a big-cheese CEO years ago, I read an interesting little book (I forget the name) that created a formula for how to create wealth. It was beautifully simple. V × L = W... Value × Leverage = Wealth Pretty hard to argue with the math there, wouldn't you say? Value is what you create. Leverage is how widely that value can reach. Put the two together and wealth tends to follow. So, a better goal than "making piles of cash" might be… …mining value gold for your customers. And if you go one step further and find a way to delight your customers – not just satisfy them – they'll keep coming back and become a powerful source of referrals. Word travels fast when people are genuinely impressed. Do this consistently and you'll discover the holy grail of business leverage: relationships. Relationships compound. A single satisfied customer might generate one transaction. But a delighted customer with a strong relationship to you or your company might generate dozens over time, along with a steady stream of introductions to others. Relationships are the "moat" around your castle. They protect you and make it difficult for competitors to invade and crush you in the marketplace. Price can be copied. Features can be copied. Technology can be copied. But authentic relationships? Those are much harder to replicate. In fact, the quality of the customer relationship is how you attain a real competitive advantage in the market. Quality relationships are hard to beat. Peter Drucker had this famous axiom: "There is only one valid purpose of a firm: to create a customer." Drucker was on to something there. But my version of this might be more like: "There is only one valid purpose of a firm: to create value for a customer in a way that delights them and leads to the formation of a long-term relationship." Notice the subtle shift. Not just creating a customer. Creating value, delight, and relationship. Because that combination is where durability lives. When a company focuses relentlessly on delivering value and strengthening relationships, profits become a natural byproduct rather than the sole objective. And when profits are the byproduct rather than the obsession, something interesting happens: the organization tends to make better long-term decisions. Shortcuts disappear. Trust increases. Reputation grows. Therein lies your competitive advantage and market differentiation. Not in clever slogans, not in slick marketing campaigns, and certainly not in quarterly earnings calls. It lives in the quiet, consistent delivery of value to real human beings. Which brings us back to our little formula. Wealth = Delighted Customers × Relationships A formula for wealth, however you define wealth. Financial wealth, yes. But also reputational wealth, relational wealth, and the kind of professional fulfillment that comes from building something that actually matters to the people you serve. Not a bad return for chasing a slightly absurd idea. Stay Unruly ~ P U B L I S H E R ' S M U S E