Value Proposition Selling

ESCAPE THE COMMODITY TRAP

Ideally your marketing and sales organisation know exactly what your company does better than the competition and translate this into compelling arguments to win more business. In most companies this is not the case. What about your company?

Are you confident that …?

You fully understand the strategies and challenges of your customers. You find ways to resolve their 'moments of misery' and provide the best possible service to their end-customers.

You know exactly what you do better than your competitors. More importantly, you can clearly explain the differences and support these with data and cases.

You know the value of the impact you have on our customers' businesses. You can clearly quantify your value in metrics that are meaningful to your customers. Your customers are willing to pay a premium for your unique services and expertise.

Not so sure?

In most companies marketing and sales staff is very aware of the features of what they sell. But what about knowing the strategy and challenges of their customers? Or, how they compare with the competition, let alone what value they provide to their customers? We researched many companies and seldom find ones that get all these three right.

87 %

OF SALES STAFF RESEARCHED KNOW THEIR PRODUCT/SERVICE FEATURES

43 %

UNDERSTAND THEIR CUSTOMER STRATEGY AND CHALLENGES (RESONATE)

32 %

KNOW HOW THEY COMPARE TO THEIR COMPETITORS (DIFFERENTIATE)

5 %

KNOW THE IMPACT (VALUE) ON THEIR CUSTOMER BUSINESS (SUBSTANTIATE)

To become recognised as the best choice for your customer you need to achieve three things:

Resonate

Link your solution to the strategic challenges of your customer. By showing that you understand your customer's business opportunities and issues you gain the right to engage and challenge.

Differentiate

Proof that you have an important competitive advantage that no-one can match. Select your differentiators carefully, focus on maximum five that are most important to your customers. Use those that are important and unique (better than anyone else).

Substantiate

Provide evidence and facts to prove the value and robustness of your solution. Uniqueness only pays off when it brings value. You may not be the cheapest, but that is irrelevant if your proven additional value is bigger than the price difference.

A good value proposition …

Provides clarity about the target customer/segment. You cannot be the best choice for all. You must focus your marketing and sales efforts where you have the highest chance of success. Most companies will need several value propositions to cover all geographies, customer types and services.

Has limited (max 5) clear customer benefits that no competitor can match. When it comes to differentiators, more can be less. Focus on those benefits that are important for your customer and where you shine versus the competition.

Delivers proof for its claims (how are these benefits delivered and why is this unique).

Demonstrates the monetary value through fact based calculations and real life cases.

Please find a good example of a value proposition project for Port of Rotterdam in our blog section.

What customers say about usFollow this link for an overview of all testimonials