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Quick Tips Value Propositions: Make your value proposition stand out | Value Propositions: Make your value proposition stand out |
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At a recent PSN Roundtable, members shared their professional struggles to rise above the use of hackneyed, generic, shopworn value propositions. What they learned was that meaningful and distinctive value propositions not only pay dividends in selling your product, they can also be instrumental in focusing your company's product development and commercialization efforts where they matter most. Here are some of the tips they shared:
• So What? If you can convincingly answer your customers' ‘So what?' question, you will capture the interest of prospects, simplify their decision-making process, and keep your own team focused. Ask yourself that question, and let your answer serve as a sieve to help you sift through various alternative propositions until you find one that squarely hits the potential user's problem. • The first ten seconds are key. According to Eagle Ventures' Mel Pirchesky, getting someone to focus on your message either happens in the first ten seconds or it doesn't happen at all. In that time, you'll need to indicate what your product or service is and offer independent validation for the value you claim. That validation could refer to similar customers you have helped, or it could be couched in terms of your position in the marketplace – preferably as recognized by third parties. If you don't have this third-party validation, get it. Make your statement concise and repeatable. • Go where the pain is. A customer may have a number of different problems you can solve. But focus on the one that causes them greatest pain, and on how your product can remove that pain. If, for example, their pain has to do with the money they're spending to accomplish a certain task, your value proposition should center on their financial predicament. Learn the specifics of how they spend money and exactly how your product can make their process more efficient. Pay particular attention to any passionate remarks they make when discussing their problems. If you can turn these remarks into emotional problem descriptors, you'll hit a resonant chord. • Be relevant to each buyer . Your customer's financial pain may be acute for the company's CFO. But their Engineering VP is more likely to be focused on the technical benefits your product could provide. Your value proposition should be relevant to each decision-maker and to the major influencers within your prospect's company. One PSN member considers at least three separate pain points before formulating a message. Another incorporates the buyer's own language. One message can emphasize the points of greatest importance to the financial buyer, while another targets the technical buyer and a third pinpoints the actual user. • A value proposition is not a data sheet. Listing your product specifications is no way to rise above the competition, and it won't help your team focus on delivering customer value. Don't expect your prospect to wade through reams of product literature listing features and product descriptions; everybody else has features, too. Instead, right up front, show the primary benefit from using your product – the problem that's going to be solved. Your customer wants to know how your product is going to improve his or her life. They want to know: “What's in it for me?” Answer their question. • Ask the expert! Exactly who is the expert? It's not your own Vice President of Product Development – it's your customer. So before you write a word of your value proposition, pick up the phone and ask your customers and prospects: “What's really important to you?” Value Proposition series This Quick Tip is one of a series on offering tips on how to improve your value propositions.
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