My five-year old granddaughter Annabeth is drop dead cute! And, she is an aggressive soccer player. Anticipating her holiday visit along with her two sisters we bought two backyard soccer goals and a couple of soccer balls. The second morning of their visit she came down for breakfast dressed for soccer action—complete with shin guards!

“What does your pink soccer shirt say, Annabeth?” I asked her. “It says: ‘Cute does not win games!’” she said! And, then with an impish grin she added, “…but we’ll see about that!”

Annabeth’s zeal for two or more attributes—seriously cute and a winner—is a lot like today’s customers. There was a time when there was truth to the clever adage, “I can get it for you fast, good or cheap…pick two!” But not anymore! Customers expect high quality, delivered quickly and laced with frugality! Customers will not wait for quality nor assume that if high end anything is delivered in a hurry it carries a premium price. Since customer expectations are climbing—up 30+% over this time last year—it is key you make certain your offering at a minimum matches the customers new definition of value!