Creating Phenomenal Value Propositions to Close Sales

Article

It’s no secret that successful B2B companies are more focused on customers and how to provide tangible ROI. What’s surprising is that many companies fail to harness one of the most powerful tools to ensure customer acquisition—their value proposition.

What is a value proposition?

A value proposition is a statement that outlines your specific products or services and how you will provide value to your customer. Value propositions tell your ideal customers why they should purchase your product over a competitor, and they serve as a promise to the industry of how your solution can impact the market. Effective value propositions are clear, concise and reflect how your unique product can solve a customer’s pain point.

Make sure you test your value proposition with existing and new customers by using it in your marketing materials, website and social media. Pay attention to your analytics, comments and user feedback. Great value propositions are revised as needed to grow with the industry and the customer’s needs. Don’t be afraid to modify your value proposition over time to better suit your target audience.

Using value propositions in sales

The days of product-led selling are over. In fact, according to Hubspot, customer-centric companies are 60% more profitable. The easiest way to show a customer-first mindset is by using an effective value proposition in your sales strategy.

How can a good value proposition help sales professionals?

Find your ideal target customers: A clear value proposition speaks to and attracts the kind of customer you are looking for. Anyone who doesn’t resonate with your value proposition knows your product won’t be the right fit before wasting time on a discovery call. Consistently connecting with the right buyers creates shorter sales cycles and higher-qualified leads.

Stand out from your competitors: Strong value propositions speak to what makes your business unique and often highlight where your competitors could improve. Customers should be able to instantly understand how your solution is superior in the marketplace. This can be a huge advantage in your sales process that saves you time and allows you to dig deeper into the needs of the decision-maker.

Craft a cohesive sales journey: Work with your marketing team to make sure all your products are promoted as clear and effectively as possible. Your value proposition should be at the heart of this strategy, and should be reflected in all aspects of the customer journey. Building a consistent story between your marketing materials and your sales strategy helps solidify your position as a resource and builds trust.

Become a resource, an expert or an advisor: Using a value proposition to guide your sales technique means you connect with a buyer by showing them how your solution can solve their biggest problems. You better understand their potential business issues and what it will take to bring value to their business, and you speak their language. Your customers don’t have to worry that their needs are a priority, because they see you as a resource to help them navigate the industry.

High-value questions to ask buyers

Sales conversations with potential customers is essential and their feedback is crucial to crafting a strong value proposition. Avoid asking “yes” or “no” questions and instead invest your time in asking open-ended sales questions to uncover the “why” and “how” a business operates.

Here’s some examples of great questions to ask before you write a value proposition:

How would you describe the problem you are trying to solve?
What challenges are you experiencing when trying to solve this problem?
How much money is this challenge or problem costing you?
Aside from money, how is this problem impacting your business?
How is this problem affecting you personally?
How would you measure the success of this project?
Have you tried a different solution in the marketplace? How did it go?
How much time do you spend working around your current problem?
If you could magically fix this problem right now, what would that ideal solution look like?
Are there any concerns you have about our product/solution?
What kind of resources on this topic would be most helpful for me to share with you?

Difference between value propositions and value selling

By now, we understand that a value proposition is a broad promise to your customer on how your solution can impact their business. Value selling is the process of quantifying exactly what that return on investment will look like for a specific customer.

Let’s say your value proposition is that you will save your customer time and money with your solution. With value selling, you would calculate exactly how much time and money you will save them.

Value Selling happens when salespeople develop the behaviors to take your company’s value proposition and quantify that generic promise for a specific organization and individual. It’s the process of forging human-to-human connections and facilitating business conversations that build buyer confidence and uncover enough quantified value to motivate change.

Example pitch:

Value proposition: “We can save you time and money with our product.”

Value selling: “We can save you 15 hours each week with our product and over $100,000 compared to your current solution.”

Value proposition examples

Salesforce

Salesforce does an excellent job of speaking the customer’s language. They aren’t afraid to use commonly known acronyms because they are conscious that their ideal customer will know these terms.

In only two sentences, you find out that every customer journey will be personalized with a seamless interface. How will you feel using the product? Magical. They even speak to their competitors by touting that they are the #1 CRM product on the market.

Zoom

In a world overwhelmed by technology, Zoom uses its value proposition to let buyers know they are the one-stop solution for all of their communication needs. They have focused on a common problem for their customers—using multiple confusing, competing technology platforms siloing communication. Zoom promises something different; they promise to “help you do more” in one connected, collaborative platform. They seal their value proposition by showing the customer that their AI-powered platform is “more intelligent” than the customer’s current solution giving Zoom a competitive advantage.

Calendly

Calendly is a great example of using your value proposition to promote a customer-centric mindset. Immediately you know that Calendly is built to save you time and energy by making scheduling meetings easy. The potential buyer can imagine the relief it would feel to have that particular problem eliminated from their day.

What makes this value proposition unique and powerful is that they tease you with the phrase “and so much more.” This phrase helps the customer imagine all of the other ways Calendly could make their life easier, and it acts as a call to action to learn more about the product.

Ultimately, value propositions are a vital piece of crafting a buyer-centric sales strategy. By asking the right questions and analyzing customer feedback, you can craft a phenomenal value proposition that helps your close sales faster.