A well-crafted value proposition has the power to catapult your business towards sustainable growth and better market performance. However, it can be a challenge to develop a unique value proposition that captures your prospects’ interest without using industry jargon and meaningless buzzwords.
Let’s explore how you can create a meaningful and compelling value proposition that resonates with your target audience and helps you win more customers.
Crafting a Compelling Value Proposition
A strong value proposition demonstrates your understanding of the business problems that your product or service solves for customers and emphasizes its value instead of product features. For example, our company’s value proposition is:
“Our value selling software platform helps our clients capture more leads and convert leads into sales at a higher and faster rate by focusing on economic value.”
Note that the focus is on the value provided to the customer rather than the platform’s features or functions.
Answer these three questions to identify and articulate the core value your offering brings to the table, in terms your customers care about:
- What business problems do you help your customers solve?
- What impact does this have on your customers’ business, and in which areas?
- How can you quantify this impact in monetary terms?
Your thoughtful answers can help you craft a message that strikes a chord with prospective customers, setting the stage for effective prospecting and customer acquisition.
Shifting From Features to Value
ROI tools help make it easy to estimate the solution’s value. These tools calculate the metrics that financial decision makers care about most.
Many companies focus too heavily on product features rather than the value these features create for their customers. Every feature should be designed to create a benefit that delivers a tangible business impact that can be measured in currency. To effectively resonate with customers, a compelling value proposition should transcend the benefit of the feature and clearly articulate its financial value.
Consider the example of an enterprise content management provider whose software platform increases productivity among hospital employees. For maximum impact, its value proposition could emphasize:
- Labor savings across various categories of hospital employees, including clinical and operations staff.
- Cost savings from reduced document storage, fewer office supplies, and lower third-party software expenses.
- Increased revenue from improved billing processes and greater customer satisfaction.
This quantifiable, value-based proposition has a far greater impact than a statement merely describing the product’s features:
“Our software will save 40 percent of your hospital employees’ time, which equates to over $15 million in savings.”
Differentiating Value for New Growth Opportunities
Value propositions are never static. As market dynamics, customer needs and preferences, and the competitive landscape evolve, so should your value proposition. Continually refreshing your value proposition is crucial for sustaining growth and seizing new opportunities.
To engage buyers in a more meaningful way, tailor your value proposition by market segment, company, and individual roles.
Market Segment
A value proposition for each market segment conveys how your solution benefits companies with similar needs. Ongoing monitoring of this value proposition helps avoid blind spots that may influence customer buying decisions and prevents lost growth opportunities due to market disruptions or commodity price fluctuations.
The best way to establish credibility and demonstrate your solution’s value is to showcase specific use cases and relatable success stories. For instance, if you sell wireless communication technology, your market-level value proposition can show how your offering can help mine operators keep track of equipment or improve the retail shopping experience.
Company Value
Understanding the uniqueness of your customers’ business can help foster stronger relationships. And deep problem discovery can unveil new value dimensions and inform a tailored value proposition or business case.
Sellers who articulate a robust financial business case for their solution are well positioned to accelerate the buyer’s journey. This is accomplished by identifying and quantifying the size of the problems solved by their solution.
Individual Role Value
Lastly, consider the individual roles within your customer’s organization to establish trust and credibility. Different stakeholders have different perspectives and responsibilities, so your value proposition should adapt accordingly and address their concerns.
Whether you’re discussing your proposition with a regional manager focused on sales growth or a merchandiser concerned with product displays, your value proposition should cater to each stakeholder’s unique challenges and responsibilities.
Conclusion
Your value proposition is a dynamic tool that should be continuously evaluated and refreshed to accommodate evolving market segments, company requirements, and individual roles. When crafted thoughtfully, it can provide your business with a roadmap to better customer engagement, sustainable growth, and greater success in your marketplace.
Remember too that your customers care deeply about improving the performance of their business. They will therefore care about the impact your offering can have on their business. By shifting the focus from product features to the value you can provide, your value proposition will capture the interest and attention of your target audience for more successful prospecting and customer acquisition.
Resources
Connect with David Svigel on LinkedIn.
Join the Value Selling for B2B Marketing and Sales Leaders LinkedIn Group.
Visit the ROI Selling Resource Center.
