According to Neil Patel, “your value proposition is an answer to this question, why should customers choose you over your competitors?”
It is one thing to know your value proposition and another thing to communicate that value proposition effectively.
Nowadays customers have more options more than ever before. The internet has given your customers an unprecedented access to your competitors.
What this means is that if you don’t make it clear why these customers should choose you over your competitors they will leave you and work with that competitor whose value proposition is clearly communicated.
If you and the competitor are saying the same thing, then, customers will be left to make their buying decisions based on pricing alone. You don’t want to negotiate based on price. You want to negotiate based on value.
Now, the question is how can you effectively communicate your value proposition?
The first thing you need to do in order to effectively communicate your value proposition is to understand your target audience.
In my sales training, I usually ask this question “do you know your target audience? The answer is usually a resounding YES! Everyone claim to know their target audience but when you probe further, you will realize that most people don’t know their target audience.
To know and understand your target audience, you need to answer certain questions. Here are a few of the questions you should answer:
- What are your customers’ fears?
- What are their goals?
- How does your product or service support their goals?
- What can cause your customers to be unsatisfied with your product or service.
Proper answers to the questions above will help you understand your customers better.
Now, let’s say part of your customer’s fears is spending too much time before getting a desired results. If your value proposition is to help them save time, the question is, how can you effectively communicate this value proposition to them?
Consider these 2 value propositions from 2 different companies below:
Company 1. Our software will help you save time.
Company 2. Our software will help you save time by 20% every month.
If you are to purchase from one of these companies, which company would you buy from? It is most likely you will buy from company 2. Because their value proposition is clearer and more specific while company 1 value proposition communication is vague and generic.
PRO TIP: To make your value proposition memorable even when the potential customers have forgotten every other thing you said in your presentation, consider adding numbers and percentage to your value proposition communication. Example: Our software will help you save time by 20% every month.
But if helping clients save time by 20% every month is not definite; it depends on certain factors, then consider saying our software will help you save time by up to 20%.
Emmanuel Ejike
Sales coach in Lagos
theemmanuelejike@gmail.com
+2348036519248
