Know Your Worth, Don’t Settle: Articulating Your Value Proposition

Sales is like dating.

You have to show your prospect (your date) why you are ‘not like everyone else’ – which seems to be easier said than done.

While you might understand what your business stands for and why it is unique, you could still be struggling with articulating your value proposition.

Neglect this and you’ll risk losing many prospects. In fact, 54% of companies do nothing to optimise their value propositions.

Why is it so hard?

If you want to secure a second or third ‘date’ with that prospect – and ultimately land a long-term relationship – then articulating your value proposition is an important factor that drives conversion.

Sales is like dating… although typically with less intimacy. Credit: Jonathan J Castellon on Unsplash.

What Does Articulating Your Value Proposition Mean – and How Do You Do It?

Your value proposition is your core competitive advantage; a unique identifier that distinguishes you from your competitors.

A well-articulated value proposition gives a prospect a reason to care about your business and its products or services.

Of the many businesses similar to yours, in an industry so competitive, why should they choose you?

What makes you so different that they would pay to work with you instead of someone else?

How do you stand out from your competitors? Credit: Ryan Yao on Unsplash.

3 Secrets to Effectively Articulating Your Value Proposition

Here are a few tips to help with articulating your value proposition. They are:

1. Get to Know Your Prospects

A common mistake when trying to communicate your value proposition to prospects is a lack of clarity about how you actually add value to their lives.

You can tell them all the great features or offers you have, but if none of these resonates with or relates to them, then you may as well cut the date short. Otherwise, you’re only prolonging your prospect’s agony.

To effectively articulate your value, you must know your audience. Not just who they are, but what they need. Consider:

• What benefits do you offer with your product or service?
• What problems do your customers have that you can help to solve?
• How are you going to improve their lives if they are to use your product or service rather than keep the status quo?

These are all questions you should know the answers to when you are developing your value proposition and sales pitch.

In short, give prospects a reason to love you.

You must demonstrate how you’ll add value. Credit: Chris Liverani on Unsplash.

2. Show How You Are Different

Aside from understanding what you offer, familiarity with your industry and competitors will help you build a strong case as to why you are not like everybody else.

Highlight core differentiators and educate your prospects about them. Again, be relatable to the audience.

Don’t just rock up to a meeting with a bulleted table of comparisons against competitors and expect them to be blown away. Instead, ask your prospects the following questions:

• What do your customers care about? 
• What edge do you have over your competitors?
• Do you know what the market says about them?
• How and why are you better?

If you know your audience and what’s important to them, you will know what they value most.

You can then take this information and place prospects in scenarios that demonstrate how you will be able to help them.

Articulating your value proposition via a pitch is about much more than dishing up a competitor comparison. Credit: Austin Distel on Unsplash.

3. Follow Through

In dating, you can’t be making empty promises. You know that’s not going to work. You have to act on your words; follow-through.

That is how you build trust – we all know the importance of that.

Fortunately, in the world of business, you can build trust by sharing stories with prospects from your previous relationships – a tactic we wouldn’t recommend with dating! These can be in the form of client testimonials and case studies.

They help to support your claims by tangibly highlighting positive business impacts you’ve made previously. 

When you articulate your value in a way that’s relevant to your customer, you have a powerful and compelling value proposition.

It’s all about building trust. Credit: Ronda Dorsey on Unsplash.

Not Always a Perfect Match

The truth is that not everyone will see your value, and that’s okay.

Like dating, it’s not always a perfect match. You’ll come across prospects who won’t see the value in your business or service. Perhaps they don’t have the need for what you offer – now or ever – and that’s fine.

You can’t sell a premium product to those looking for an affordable service. Accept it, and target more qualified prospects instead.

Be careful not to be too pushy. And make note of the reasons why a prospect isn’t interested. Who knows – you may be able to help them in the future.

Broken hearts can be mended. Credit: Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash.

Sales Over Dating

At Hunt & Hawk, we may not be dating gurus, but we are sales experts.

If you’re ready to ‘get out there’ and wow prospects, we’re here for you.

Pitch your sales strategy to us and we’ll provide feedback about how you’re articulating your value proposition and help you to develop your sales presentation skills.

Reach out to us at hi@huntandhawk.com.