Whether you are a sales executive selling a product or service, or a job seeker selling your own skills, a strong value proposition is essential to effectively communicate that you are offering the best option. A value proposition can be defined in a variety of ways, but ultimately it comes down to clearly defining what you offer, what the benefits are, and why you are better than your competition.
Although this may sound straightforward, the challenge is making the message clear, unique, concise and interesting all at the same time. Additionally, a value proposition is not a one-size-fits-all tool… you must consider the audience and tailor your value proposition to be user-centric. You may offer a multitude of services but does the audience really need them all? Do your due diligence and understand your audience and focus your proposition on what they need. A business is far more likely to invest in something they consider mission critical than something that is “nice-to-have”.
To best understand your audience, first create profiles for each audience member and identify their goals, motivations, role and their level of influence within the organization. These profiles allow you to be laser focused, and once you have created these profiles you can begin to create your value proposition.
Next you must ascertain what makes you different and why you are the best choice. A value proposition is not a feature tour; you do not want to simply point out the great color of the car, we want to explain why this feature makes it the best option. Most likely your audience knows what you are offering, now they want to know the benefits and how you will solve their problems. The best way to do this is to truly understand what your competitors are offering, who they are targeting and their key benefits and use this information to identify where you fit in the marketplace and then focus on what makes you unique.
Now that you have identified who your audience is and what makes you unique compared to the competition, the next step is the deciding how to say it. The how is somewhat of an art form and this is why The Brooks Group created our “Building the Value Proposition” skill enhancement program. During this two day program we dive deeper into the process of developing a powerful value proposition. Different from typical “classroom” training programs, each attendee is continuously engaged and involved, and given the opportunity to practice the delivery of their own value proposition while receiving constructive feedback from instructors. At Brooks Group we believe those in life who are the best at what they do are those that tend to search endlessly for more and better ways of doing what they do.
For more information on “Building the Value Proposition” training program, please contact Peter Haines, Manager of Client Media Marketing, at Peter.Haines@brooksgouponline.com or 267-882-8627.
“Whatever made you successful in the past, probably won’t in the future.”
–Harry Beckwith