Value Proposition: What is your Value Proposition in the Eye of Your Clients?
What is your Value Proposition in the Eye of your Client?
I asked a client one time, “Kyle, why do you do business with me?” His response was, “Those wonderful Gourmet Chocolate-Chip Brownies that you bring me every Christmas.”
Yes, those Gourmet Chocolate-Chip Brownies are scrumptious. An 80 year old friend of mine bakes these for me each year. Usually around July, several of my clients begin to ask, “When are you going to bring us more brownies?” I have to remind them it isn’t Christmas yet!
Much has been written about Value Proposition and how you must offer so much more than your competition in order to retain business. However, do you know from your client’s prospective the Value Proposition that you provide?
Besides tempting clients with brownies each year, here are several additional tips that you can use to engage clients and prospects to learn more about them and how to better be of service:
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- Industry – Keep abreast of their industry and discuss trends and happenings with them. Follow them on the internet through all of their social media; subscribe to their industry magazines; join their trade associations.
- Competition – Vet their competition through websites or available trade association information. Discuss what they are doing in comparison to their closest competition.
- Future of Company and Client – Periodically engage them in conversation as to what direction the company as a whole is going but also seek to find out about own their future plans. Are they looking to move up in the organization or on to better opportunities?
- Extras – Be willing to offer products and services that your competition either doesn’t offer or doesn’t want to offer. Over the years, I have provided my clients with many products outside of my core product offerings simply because they said they would buy it if I could provide.
- Partner – Figure out a means of partnering with your clients.
- Resource – Be the “go-to” person when your client needs a warm referral for products or services outside of your wheelhouse.
- Personal Values – How well do you know your client and what is important to them–their values and personal likes/dislikes?
Providing a real value to your clients comes in many forms. Don’t be afraid to simply ask how you can help them grow their business.
Peggy P. Edge © 2014
Networking: Be a Resource to your client base.
Networking—to be an effective resource to your prospects and clients, you have to keep your ears open for opportunities to be of service.
Obviously I don’t sell phone systems, provide travel services, or do financial planning. However, what I do offer my clients is me and my network. By being a resource to everyone I come into contact with in the marketplace, I provide an invaluable service.
You see, when my clients have a need I want them to think of me first. Over the years, they have called me to ask for someone to fix the pot-holes in their parking lot; to ask if I know someone to fill a position within the company; or to ask who I use for my banking needs.
Likewise, you too can be a resource for your client base by making sure that each one of them know you are there to not only be a supplier of products and services but also a provider of connections. You must ask, “What are your looking for today?” Be willing to think outside of the box a little bit and stop looking for more sales.
Remember to always look for the opportunity to be of service. Your connections could be the one thing that sets you apart from your competition…your EDGE Over the Competition!
Peggy Parker Edge (c), 2014
Sales: Engage the Prospect First
Engage the prospect first? Absolutely!
If you lead the sales presentation by telling Mr. Prospect how wonderful your company is; that your products/services are so superior to the competition; and start trying to close without identifying his needs, you have lost any opportunity to move the sale forward. You have yet to focus on him or his needs.
What is wrong with this picture? You know the saying that when you meet someone for the first time, within 5 minutes you have made your lasting impression on the other party. Well, within those first 5 minutes, Mr. Prospect has already tuned you out because you have not made any attempt to include him in this sales process.
How do you engage, include or elicit participation from a first time prospect?
- Ask probing questions. Get him to tell you about how his company operates, what they do, and how they do that. Don’t be afraid to ask anything that you believe will help you understand their needs.
- Decipher the problems. Again, you must ask. You cannot assume anything even though you might have some prior experience in the industry, don’t get caught categorizing what you are hearing into a pat solution. Be open-minded.
- Figure out why the issues are important. You absolutely must get details here so that you understand exactly what is going on within this organization.
I learned in my senior Marketing Problems class in college, first you must identify the facts and determine the issues had hand. As professional salesmen, you must engage the client first and foremost.
Only after you have accomplished this investigative portion of your visit, then you can move forward to the next steps:
- Conceive possible solutions (figuring out what products/services will be the best fit for the application)
- Make suggestions that are client based–not what you want to sell them today (Forget that you are going to make a $100 bonus to sell the newest widget right off the production line)
- Create recommendations (if these do not match the problems, you do not have a potential solution)
- Justify each recommendation for each solution proposed. (This is a requirement…each recommendation must have a corresponding justification.)
In that marketing class, the groundwork was laid with us as potential salesmen–before you can expect to be successful in sales, you must always apply one of the Rules of Sales–Engage the Prospect!
Peggy P. Edge (c) 2014
