Is your sales team using a value proposition that is irrelevant to your buyers leaving them to connect the dots?
Take a look at the value proposition that your Go To Market Teams are using to make sure they are relevant. As CEO, you are the only one who can orchestrate this. It matters, research shows that relevant value propositions could increase your deal closure rate by 50%.
In today’s hyper-competitive markets, it’s hard for salespeople to get their message heard by the right buyers. Without a rock-solid, relevant value proposition, attracting and closing new customers is just plain hard.
Most value propositions are “inside-out” – more focused on product and service features than they are on the buyers’ needs. Ask your team for the messages they use and see what you think.
In her new book, Value Propositions that SELL: Turning Your Message into a Magnet that Attracts Buyers, Lisa Dennis explains how to move from an “inside-out’ proposition to an approach that speaks the language that activates your buyers. I recommend you give this book to the leaders of your Go to Market team.
In this episode we talk with Lisa Dennis whose company, Knowledgence Associates, is a marketing & sales consultancy specializing in buyer-focused value propositions. Lisa explores the most common problem – value statements that lack relevance to the customer because they are too focused on product or service features. Buyers are left to connect the dots between these features and their actual pain point. Lisa’s research has demonstrated a 50% decrease in the likelihood of closing a sale when a value proposition lacks relevance. Listen so you can learn what your team should be doing to make it easier for your customers to buy from you.
Watch the podcast below or on our YouTube channel.
Highlights of this Episode:
[3:02] If your value propositions lack relevance to the buyer
You are 35% less likely to get shortlisted
You are 47% less likely to get a sale
[4:02] We need to be talking about the buyer’s market, priorities and issues.
[5:55] Are your writing one size fits all value proposition or do you segment by buyer persona?
[9:12] It all starts with marketing teams that thoroughly understand the ideal customer
[12:20] The first line or two of your value proposition should be about what is driving your customer to make a decision
[16:00] With value propositions, less is more versus bloated generic ones
[16:51] The last chunk of a value statement, and the hardest, what are your differentiators?
[18:00] You need two differentiators – one identifies what is different about working with your company and how the customer will feel after working with you.
[18:45] A value proposition must be true – A customer is saying it, a partner is saying it, an outside third party organization is saying it.
[20:48] When I ask sales teams to write their value proposition it’s frightening how often none of them are the same – this is why it’s so important to present yours to the entire team.
[23:15] Once you have your value proposition, you need email copy, blog templates, social copy, voicemail, email signatures…
[24:49] It’s like you’re breadcrumbing them down the path with storytelling
[29:15] How am I going to install this message organizationally? Just putting it in some content isn’t enough.
About our Guest
Lisa Dennis is a global marketing and sales strategist, consultant, and author. Her consulting practice focuses on value proposition and messaging development, marketing strategy, ABM, and sales enablement content and programs. She is a mentor at Techstars and has coached over 90 start-ups on developing clear, differentiated value propositions that drive engagement with investors and new customers. She is the author of Value Propositions that Sell: Turning Your Message into a Magnet that Attracts Buyers. and her upcoming book Do You Speak “Buyer”?: Integrated Messaging Playbook for Marketing and Sales (Late 2022). She works with enterprise companies in technology, manufacturing, professional services, healthcare and more, including Akamai, FedEx, HP, IBM, Microsoft, Salesforce, Tufts Health Plan, and Verizon.
Resource Links:
https://www.amazon.ca/Value-Propositions-That-Sell-Attracts/dp/0692089462
Connect with Lisa Dennis in the links below:
Website: http://www.valueproposition.expert/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/knowledgence/
You can learn more about and connect with Alice Heiman in the links below.
Website: https://aliceheiman.com
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aliceheiman/
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