Face Off: Value Propositions vs. Sales Messaging - Why Your Value Prop Is Losing and What to Do About It
Face Off: Value Propositions vs. Sales Messaging - Why Your Value Prop Is Losing and What to Do About It
“75 percent of marketing and salespeople are unable to consistently and effectively articulate their value propositions.”
Marketing Alignment Benchmark Study, conducted by Holden Corporation (Hoffman Estates, Illinois: 2001)
**The Problem with Value Propositions**
The underlying problem with value propositions is that companies often try to use them for all sales and marketing efforts: to create interest in your company, to convince a prospect to meet with you, to convince a prospect to buy from you, etc.
Step back and you’ll see why most value props are ineffective and hard to remember. A simple web search returns no clear consensus on the definition of a value proposition. For example,
• “Identify and satisfy a need that your target market possesses”
• “A clear statement of the tangible results a customer gets by using your products or services”
• “A clear and succinct statement that outlines to potential clients and stakeholders your company's unique value-creating features”
• “A statement summarizing the customer segment, competitor targets and the core differentiation of one's product from the offerings of the competition”
The definitions are all over the map and thus open to wide interpretation. So when you talk with your sales organization, a value proposition tends to be whatever needs to be said to advance the sales process. When you talk to the marketing organization, the value proposition tends to be a market positioning statement for the company or for a product.
**Value Proposition and Sales Messaging Defined**
Think of a value proposition as a high-level positioning or general benefit statement. It’s a one-or two-line description of what your company does and the value the target market would receive by doing business with your company. Done well, a value prop answers the question: “Why should I consider doing business with your company?"
Defining a value proposition in this way allows you to clearly differentiate it from sales messaging--the silver bullet your sales team needs in order to grow the sales pipeline and win more business.
Unlike value propositions, great sales messaging provides a compelling and persuasive answer to each of your buyers’ primary buying questions for each of the products and services you offer:
• “Why should I meet with you?”
• “Why should I change what I currently do and buy a product or service like this?”
• “Why should I buy this from you rather than from the competition?”
**Great sales messaging is the silver bullet your sales team needs to win more business**
Compare this to what most companies are doing today. They attempt to create a value proposition to answer all possible buying questions related to all of their products and services. The result is that instead of providing their sales team with a magic bullet, what they end up providing is a blank or copper bullet at best.
Differentiating your value proposition from your sales messaging enables both to work in concert. You can have a high-level value prop for the company that generates interest, and multiple sales messages for each of the products and services you offer, which will generate more meetings, buying events and orders.
This solution produces dramatic results. Companies that successfully distinguish between their value proposition and their sales messaging experience an increase in sales of 15% to 25% or more.
A3 Solutions is one such company. A3 was in a classic David-vs-Goliath struggle: a smaller company with better technology confronting larger competitors with bigger balance sheets. Here’s how they explain the results of implementing great sales messaging:
“In three months, our sales pipeline has doubled in size, and our close rate is up by 150%,” according to Stuart Ratner, Chief Operating Officer. “We went from just another vendor communicating features and benefits to the preferred vendor communicating profound business value… and the shift occurred virtually overnight.” A3’s CEO Robert Lautt adds: “Our ‘Why Buys?’ are so strong that we effectively fence off the competition. Bottom line is we’re now a much more market-driven company.”
Implement great sales messaging and experience these results yourself.
Face Off Value Propositions vs Sales Messaging Why Your Value Prop Is Losing and What to Do About It - To learn more about this author, visit Michael Cannon's Website.
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Every company wants a great value proposition, the proverbial magic bullet that gets you in the door and gets you an order. The trouble is that most value propositions are more like blank or copper bullets. They don’t perform well. And because they don’t perform, they reduce the effectiveness of all your sales and marketing investments, sapping your company’s strength and competitiveness. Consider the implications of this market research for your firm:
“75 percent of marketing and salespeople are unable to consistently and effectively articulate their value propositions.”
Marketing Alignment Benchmark Study, conducted by Holden Corporation (Hoffman Estates, Illinois: 2001)
**The Problem with Value Propositions**
The underlying problem with value propositions is that companies often try to use them for all sales and marketing efforts: to create interest in your company, to convince a prospect to meet with you, to convince a prospect to buy from you, etc.
Step back and you’ll see why most value props are ineffective and hard to remember. A simple web search returns no clear consensus on the definition of a value proposition. For example,
• “Identify and satisfy a need that your target market possesses”
• “A clear statement of the tangible results a customer gets by using your products or services”
• “A clear and succinct statement that outlines to potential clients and stakeholders your company's unique value-creating features”
• “A statement summarizing the customer segment, competitor targets and the core differentiation of one's product from the offerings of the competition”
The definitions are all over the map and thus open to wide interpretation. So when you talk with your sales organization, a value proposition tends to be whatever needs to be said to advance the sales process. When you talk to the marketing organization, the value proposition tends to be a market positioning statement for the company or for a product.
**Value Proposition and Sales Messaging Defined**
Think of a value proposition as a high-level positioning or general benefit statement. It’s a one-or two-line description of what your company does and the value the target market would receive by doing business with your company. Done well, a value prop answers the question: “Why should I consider doing business with your company?"
Defining a value proposition in this way allows you to clearly differentiate it from sales messaging--the silver bullet your sales team needs in order to grow the sales pipeline and win more business.
Unlike value propositions, great sales messaging provides a compelling and persuasive answer to each of your buyers’ primary buying questions for each of the products and services you offer:
• “Why should I meet with you?”
• “Why should I change what I currently do and buy a product or service like this?”
• “Why should I buy this from you rather than from the competition?”
**Great sales messaging is the silver bullet your sales team needs to win more business**
Compare this to what most companies are doing today. They attempt to create a value proposition to answer all possible buying questions related to all of their products and services. The result is that instead of providing their sales team with a magic bullet, what they end up providing is a blank or copper bullet at best.
Differentiating your value proposition from your sales messaging enables both to work in concert. You can have a high-level value prop for the company that generates interest, and multiple sales messages for each of the products and services you offer, which will generate more meetings, buying events and orders.
This solution produces dramatic results. Companies that successfully distinguish between their value proposition and their sales messaging experience an increase in sales of 15% to 25% or more.
A3 Solutions is one such company. A3 was in a classic David-vs-Goliath struggle: a smaller company with better technology confronting larger competitors with bigger balance sheets. Here’s how they explain the results of implementing great sales messaging:
“In three months, our sales pipeline has doubled in size, and our close rate is up by 150%,” according to Stuart Ratner, Chief Operating Officer. “We went from just another vendor communicating features and benefits to the preferred vendor communicating profound business value… and the shift occurred virtually overnight.” A3’s CEO Robert Lautt adds: “Our ‘Why Buys?’ are so strong that we effectively fence off the competition. Bottom line is we’re now a much more market-driven company.”
Implement great sales messaging and experience these results yourself.
Face Off Value Propositions vs Sales Messaging Why Your Value Prop Is Losing and What to Do About It - To learn more about this author, visit Michael Cannon's Website.
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David AchesonDavid Acheson is the founder of DCJA Consultancy. DCJA Consultancy is a management consultancy business specialising in B2B sales consultancy. They offer bespoke and packaged sales consultancy including Sales Optimisation Review, Interim Sales Management, Sales & Marketing Review, 1:1 Sales & Management Staff Analysis, Management Training, Solution Sales Training, Creation of New Pay Plan, KPI's, run Customer Feedback Campaigns, assist with Recruitment, Coaching, Appraisals and set up Strategic Marketing Campaigns. David spent his early career in accountancy and then moved into sales in 1982, working in Office Equipment, IT, Advertising, Training, Outsourcing and Consultancy. He has held many Senior Positions in SMBs and Global Organisations including Head of Sales Operations & Head of Business Development. His knowledge, skills and great experience of the Sales Industry has led to David making keynote speeches and running educational sessions to key businesses through organisations including The Chamber of Commerce and Business Link. - Visit David Acheson's Website |
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Dave KurlanDave Kurlan is the founder and CEO of Objective Management Group, Inc., the industry leader in sales assessments and sales force evaluations, and the CEO of David Kurlan & Associates, Inc., a consulting firm specializing in sales force development. Dave has been a top rated speaker at Inc. Magazine's Conference on Growing the Company, the Sales & Marketing Management Conference and the Gazelles Sales & Marketing Summit. He has been featured on radio and TV, including World Business Review with General Norman Schwarzkopf, in Inc. Magazine, Selling Power Magazine, Sales & Marketing Management Magazine and Incentive Magazine. He is the author of Mindless Selling and Baseline Selling – How to Become a Sales Superstar by Using What You Already Know about the Game of Baseball. He created and wrote STAR, a proprietary recruiting process for hiring great salespeople, and he writes Understanding the Sales Force, a popular business Blog and is a contributing author to The Death of 20th Century Selling and 101 Great Ways to Improve Your Life, Volume 2. - Visit Dave Kurlan's Website |
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Leanne Hoagland-SmithAre your sales where you want them to be? Will you be one of the few who achieves sales or business success or one of the many who have failed to change? Are you tired of being told you are like everyone else? Then you may find my first book on sales of interest. Be the Red Jacket in the Sea of Gray Suits, The Keys to Unlocking Sales available at Amazon or at http://www.processspecialist.com/red-jacket.htm. This book is a reflection of my no-nonsense approach to improving sales to overall business results. If you are truly committed to making sustainable changes, then I can help you secure a positive return on your investment because I focus on executable solutions not telling you the problems you already know you have. From training to corporate (group) coaching to executive one on one coaching, my approach is to assess, create awareness, build a goal driven action plan and then execute. The bottom line question is "Not do you or your employees know it, but do you or they want to do it?" Please call for a free strategy session at 219.759.5601. - Visit Leanne Hoagland-Smith's Website |
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Linda RichardsonLinda Richardson is the Founder and Executive Chairwoman of Richardson, a global sales training and performance improvement company. As a recognized leader in the industry, she has won the coveted Stevie Award for Lifetime Achievement in Sales Excellence and she was identified by Training Industry, Inc. as one of the “Top 20 Most Influential Training Professionals.” Ms. Richardson is credited with the movement to Consultative Selling and is the author of ten books on selling and sales management, including Sales Coaching — Making the Great Leap from Sales Manager to Sales Coach, and Stop Telling, Start Selling. She teaches sales and management at the Wharton Graduate School of the University of Pennsylvania and the Wharton Executive Development Center. Linda is a frequent speaker at industry and client conferences, has been published extensively in industry and training journals, and has been featured in numerous publications, including The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Nation’s Business, Selling Power, Success, and The Conference Board Magazine. Learn more about Richardson's sales training and performance improvement solutions at http://www.richardson.com web - Visit Linda Richardson's Website |
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John BrennanJohn Brennan Ed.D. Dr. Brennan is President of Interpersonal Development, LLC, a training and development firm. Interpersonal Development has provided sales training and coaching to more than 3,000 sales reps from over 100 companies. A native of Australia, Dr. Brennan received his doctorate from the University of Rochester. His dissertation researched the effectiveness of Behavioral Modeling Technology in training people in interpersonal skills. While he has spent most of his career designing or delivering training, he was also a Vice-President of Sales of a training and development franchise with operations in 25 markets. Dr. Brennan has designed and delivered sales training in North America, Asia, Europe, Australia and the Middle East. He has been a guest speaker at numerous national and regional professional conferences. When Microsoft wanted Best Practices articles on sales for their web site, they called Dr. Brennan. The results are at http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/FX011387391033.aspx His firm’s clients have included Volvo, The Prudential, Merrill Lynch, Eastman Kodak, Gannett, Equifax Europe, the Economist Group and countless small businesses. - Visit John Brennan's Website |
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George LudwigGeorge Ludwig is a recognized authority on sales strategy and peak performance psychology. An international speaker, trainer, and corporate consultant, he helps clients like Johnson & Johnson, Abbott Laboratories, Northwestern Mutual, CIGNA, and numerous others improve sales force effectiveness and performance. Though it's George's strategies and processes that help corporations increase productivity and performance, it's his tremendous energy and dynamism that spark the transformation. Again and again, clients remark on his amazing ability to unleash human capacity and inspire men and women to break out of their comfort zones. The result is a whole new type of salesperson. His customized presentations teach achievers to make stunning advances in their lives. From helping salespeople realize cherished dreams to helping corporations exponentially accelerate revenue streams, George Ludwig leaves audiences and individuals empowered, emboldened, and clamoring for more. George is the best-selling author of Power Selling: Seven Strategies for Cracking the Sales Code and Wise Moves: 60 Quick Tips to Improve Your Position in Life & Business. - Visit George Ludwig's Website |
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Anne BarrAnne Barr has over 26 years experience in sales and marketing, six years as a franchisee. She has assisted over 367 business owners and purchasers to achieve their goals in career change, transition and exit strategy. She holds the designation of Certified Franchise Executive from the International Franchise Association, Certified Business Intermediary from the International Business Brokers Association and Board Certified Broker from the Texas Association of Business Brokers. Anne is active in professional organizations, networking groups and volunteers for non-profit entities. As owner/operator of four successful businesses, Anne has proven people skills and enjoys helping clients find the right "fit" in business ownership. Visit www.FranchiseOpportunitySpecialist.com for more information about me and my company. - Visit Anne Barr's Website |
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