|
Drive Opportunities with a
Compelling Value Proposition
by Miller Heiman Research Institute
Building a compelling value proposition that resonates with clients and new opportunities is a best-practice of World-Class Sales Organizations. These organizations look at their company's product or service from the customer's point of view to identify the reason "why" clients turn to them. Recognizing these differentiators enables the sales organization to craft a message targeting customer requirements. This results in a concise, highly-appealing message that effectively draws customers.
"World-Class Sales Organizations have the customer at the core of their strategies," said Joe Galvin, Chief Research Officer of the Miller Heiman Research Institute. "Only the customer can tell you what is or is not compelling. Great sales people know what resonates with their customers.World-Class Sales Organizations are able to create, capture and share those messages with their sale teams."
Our research for the 2012 Sales Best Practices Study, found that a full 93 percent of World-Class Sales Organizations report they have a formalized value proposition that's very compelling to clients. By contrast, only 39 percent of all respondents say they follow this best practice.
"Some companies may not have high-value messaging due to lack of marketing alignment or lack of clear and consistent messaging. Another reason could be the failure, or non-existence, of an enablement function that leaves salespeople to create messages on their own," Galvin explained.
Formal But Not Rigid
Value propositions are short statements summarizing your organization's key message. The most effective statements target the two issues customers care about most: what's in it for them and why you.
Formalized does not mean standardized and inflexible. Key characteristics of your organization's Ideal Customer should be at the heart of every value proposition. Clients have differing needs, so the actual way salespeople deliver the statement will vary, but the
the heart of the message should hold true.
Making It Compelling
Aligning a value proposition with a customer-centric sales strategy continuously builds differentiation and helps prove your company's value during each customer interaction. Customers focus on their own pain points - what they are trying to fix, accomplish or avoid.
"The critical word here is value," said Jason Buma, Sales Vice President for Miller Heiman. "In selling, addressing the different types of value is critical: Financial Value, Business Value and Personal Value. Great value propositions address all three! The most important, however, is the third. Addressing Personal Value is what makes a value proposition really attract an individual's attention."
A sales force able to articulate their company's value from the customer's perspective enables them to enter a complex sales situation with extra tools. They not only understand what their product/service does, they can align it with the customer's concept - a skill that provides added value to customers. Value propositions that focus on solutions to those points resonate with customers. |
