Jill Kornath Selling

Selling to Big Companies
STRONG
VALUE
PROPOSITIONS
The Critical Foundation for
All Your Sales & Marketing
JILL KONRATH
Strong Value Propositions 2
STRONG
VALUE
PROPOSITIONS
The Critical Foundation for
All Your Sales & Marketing
Jill Konrath
Copyright @ 2003, Jill Konrath. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in
any form without permission from the publisher. Exceptions
are made for brief excerpts used in publisher reviews.
Published by:
Selling to Big Companies
2227 Foxtail Ct., St. Paul, MN 55110 USA
Printed in the United States of America
ISBN: 0-972649-2-1
Printed in the United States of America
Copyright Jill Konrath 2003
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www.SellingtoBigCompanies.com
Table of Contents
What is a Value Proposition? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
The Epidemic of Weak Value Propositions
...................................6
Customer-Attracting Value Propositions
....................................9
Value Propositions & Service Businesses

Clarifying Your Own Value Proposition
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Exercise I: Finding Your Value Proposition
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Exercise II: Writing Your Value Proposition
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Value Propositions & New Products

Using Your Value Proposition
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
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What is a Value Proposition?

Without a strong value proposition, its much harder to sell your products or services in
todays economy, much less even get in the door of big companies.
But what exactly is a
value proposition? And how is it different from other commonly used terms?
A value proposition is often confused with an Elevator Speech or a Unique Selling
Proposition. Its essential to understand the differences between these terms because their
purposes and sales impact are very different.
An Elevator Speech is a short, 1-2 sentence statement that defines who you work with (target
market) and the general area in which you help them.
About 10 seconds long, its used
primarily at networking events to attract potential clients and stimulate discussion.
The
following Elevator Speeches show you how some people describe what they do:
I work with small businesses who are struggling to sell their products or services into large
corporate accounts.
We help technology companies effectively use their customer information to drive repeat
sales.
I help small-to-medium sized manufacturing companies who have difficulties with
unpredictable revenue streams.
An Elevator Speech is the foundation of a value proposition without the specifics that are
needed to sell into the corporate market. (For more info, check out my eBook, Attracting
More Customers.)
A Unique Selling Proposition (USP) is a statement about what makes you and your company
different from other vendors. Its primary value is to create competitive differentiation. A USP
is often used in marketing materials or in talking with customers who are ready to buy.
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Here are a few good USP examples:

We specialize in working with financial institutions. (specialty)
We guarantee service in 4 hours or your money back. (guarantee)
We use a unique tool called SureFire! to analyze your critical needs. (methodology)
Helping customers understand your USP is imperative when theyve already decided to make a
purchase decision.
But USPs have absolutely no impact when customers are satisfied with
their situation or when theyre frustrated but havent yet decided to change.
USPs are far
more effective in the business-to-consumer market than in business-to-business sales.

Both the Elevator Speech and the USP are cousins of the value proposition, but lack the punch
of a value proposition when selling to the corporate market.
A value proposition is a clear statement of the tangible results a customer gets from using
your products or services.
Its outcome focused and stresses the business value of your
offering.
A strong value proposition is specific, often citing numbers or percentages. It may include a
quick synopsis of your work with similar customers as a proof source and demonstration of
your capability. Here are several examples to stimulate your thinking:
We help large companies reduce the cost of their employee benefits programs
without impacting benefit levels. With the spiraling costs of health care today, this is
a critical issue for most businesses. One of our recent clients, a large manufacturing
company similar to yours, was struggling with how to reduce spending in this area.
We saved them over $800,000 in just six months. Plus, they didnt cut any services
to their employees, nor did their employees have to pay more.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I help technology companies who are launching an important new product into the
marketplace and need it to be successful to achieve their sales forecast. Where I
help my clients is in the often dropped hand-off between marketing and sales. As a
result, theyre able to more easily meet projected sales goals and significantly
shorten time-to-profitability.
Again, notice the specificity of the value proposition and the use of business-oriented
language. Prospective customers should be able to visualize exactly what value you could
bring their organization.
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The Epidemic of
Weak Value Propositions
If youre selling to the corporate market, one of the biggest challenges you encounter is
getting face time with decision makers.
Stressed Out Buyers

Corporate buyers, after years of continual downsizings and reorganizations, have way too
much work to do and not nearly enough time to do it in. Under constant pressure to deliver
results, they zealously protect their schedule, refusing to meet with anybody who cant help
them achieve their business objectives.
Busy decision makers screen all callers, using an administrative assistant as a gatekeeper or
their ubiquitous voicemail.
interruption.
And, if youre selling something youre an undesirable
Customers dont have time to update you on their company, sit through an
extended needs analysis or explore the possibilities of working together.

They dont want to learn about your products or services just so they can know whats out
there.
With every dollar they spend being scrutinized by higher-ups, wasting money on
frivolous products or nice-to-have services is out of the question. So unless something can be
cost-justified and provide a significant return on their investment, they dont want to take time
to hear about it.
Not only that, but theyre also bombarded with people and companies trying to get their
attention. Its not unusual for corporate decision makers to average over 100 emails per day.
Their voice mailbox is flooded with calls from co-workers, customers and outside vendors.
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And what do they usually hear from people like you who are trying to get in and sell their
products or services? A typical phone message sounds like this:
Hi Mr./Ms. Decisionmaker. This is Tony from Super Duper Products, Inc. We
specialize in leading-edge financial software applications and have been rated as
having one of the best software by Krumstock Research.
The reason Im calling is that Id like to set up an appointment with you to introduce
myself and to tell you more about how we might be able to help your company speed
up your reporting capabilities.
Ill be in your area in two weeks and was hoping to sit down with you for about a
half hour. Please let me know if that will work for you. My number is
Why in the world would corporate decision makers take time out of their already overcrowded
schedule to meet with this seller? They wouldnt. Pure and simple. Even though the seller
mentioned a benefit, it was weak very weak.
Ineffective and Unappealing

One of the biggest reasons businesses struggle in todays market is because they have weak
value propositions. Over and over again, I hear people who sell deliver ineffective statements
about the value customers get from working with their organization. It doesnt matter if these
sellers are from big companies, small firms, or are independent professionals. They just arent
saying things that get prospective buyers to say, Come on in. We need to meet.
And the worst thing is that many of the products or services these people sell
have extremely high value to corporate accounts!
But their failure to articulate it in words that appeal to corporate decision makers
is their downfall. Instead, they limp along trying to drive sales but unable to
even get in the door.
In discussing their companys products, many people use value propositions such as:
Its the most technology-advanced system in the market today.
We offer the most robust enterprise system with the widest range of capabilities available.
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Our system was rated best-in-class at the recent Big Deal Conference.
We are the low-cost provider of this kind of product/service.
We offer one-stop shopping.
We have a full range of products to meet your every need in the manufacturing area.
Service firms and independent professionals often say:
Im an OD consultant. I do team building and process re-engineering.
We design brochures, web sites, and packaging materials.
We help improve creativity and innovation in organizations.
I do sales training.
I help companies decide which technology best meets their needs.
Im an attorney. I do corporate tax work.
BORING!!!
If youre like most people, youre saying, So what?
Why should I waste my
valuable time talking to you?

Plus any time people hear words such as best, leading, superior and so on they immediately
dismiss them as self-promoting aggrandizement. These words are simply not believable and
detract from your message.
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Customer-Attracting
Value Propositions
With todays tight economy, a strong value proposition breaks through the clutter and gets the
attention of overburdened decision makers. If you havent found a way to state your value in
business terms, youre in for a never-ending struggle to get business.
Strong value propositions open doors and create opportunities for you to sell your products or
services. Theyre financially oriented and speak to the critical issues your target market is
facing.
I recently read an article in Business 2.0 about a company called DemandTec. Their software
calculates exactly how much retailers should charge to squeeze the maximum profit from
every product and at any time.
During an 8-week test with one retailer, revenues jumped 10%, unit volume increased 6%
and net profit grew 2% due to their price-optimization capabilities. Payback is expected within
12 months. Thats their value proposition!
What retailer wouldnt want to learn more about what this company does! As I was reading
the article, I could almost see the retailers senior management team salivating over the
information in it.
Thats the power of a strong value proposition.
A while back I had lunch with the president of a $1/2 billion division of a major corporation.
She told me that if someone contacted her and said he could reduce waste by just 1%, she
would meet with him immediately. Why? Because she knew exactly how much her company
spent on waste and it was a lot of money. Every penny she saved would go right to the
bottom line.
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Again, powerful value propositions open doors quickly! Taking time to really clarify yours is
well worth the time invested in the process.
Business-Oriented Terminology
Strong value propositions are always stated in business terms.
Corporate buyers are
particularly attracted to phrases such as:

Increased revenues
Faster time to market
Decreased costs
Improved operational efficiency
Increased market share
Decreased employee turnover
Improved customer retention levels
Increased competitive differentiation
Faster response time
Decreased operational expenses
Increased sales per customer
Reduced cost of sales
Improved asset utilization
Faster collections
Reduced cost of goods sold
Minimized risk
Additional revenue streams
Increased market share
Improved time-to-profitability
Increased billable hours
Reduced cycle time
Increased inventory turns
Faster sales cycles
Reduced direct labor costs
Can your business do any of these things? How about something similar?
Perhaps youve never really thought about your products or services in these terms. But this
is what corporate decision makers want to hear so its time to revisit your value proposition.
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Think about translating what you do into the language of decision makers. Remember, they
dont care about your products speed or efficiency.
They dont care about the wonderful
methodology you use. They care about the results it delivers.

When you find the right words to describe your offering, youll immediately notice a change in
how youre treated. Corporate buyers will want to learn more about what you do.
Tangible, Measurable Results

The very best value propositions deliver tangible, measurable results that are highly desirable
to prospective buyers.
Yet many companies fail to extend their benefits into actual
numbers. If its possible for you to do this, it is highly recommended.

Specificity sells. The more specific your value proposition, the more attractive it is. Stories
are another way of providing specificity, enabling you to get your message across but without
having to make unsubstantiated, across-the-board claims.
I recently wrote a book, Winning More Sales: Take Your Business to the Next Level with
Insightful, Powerful Questions. One of the first people to purchase the book from my website
wrote me a note saying that my advice helped him land a $26,000 sale the very next day.
With his permission, Im using that quote to promote my book. It makes the price seem
miniscule compared to the value received!
Sellers as the Real Value Proposition

In todays market, with less and less differentiation between products and services, sometimes
the seller is the real value proposition. Customers buy the knowledge, expertise and ideas he
or she brings to the relationship.
For many salespeople this is a totally new and unfamiliar paradigm and theyre unprepared
to sell their own personal worth.
But many sellers do bring extraordinary value to their
customers sometimes in easily quantifiable ways, sometimes not.

A woman I know is a sock salesperson who does business with major retailers.
commodities and pricing is often the primary criteria in decision-making.
Socks are
But not for this
salesperson. She helps her customers increase sales to their clientele by:
Regularly shopping the competition and advising her customers about market trends.
Designing packaging alternatives to encourage customers to buy more socks at one time.
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Developing creative displays that entice customers to buy socks more often.
Creating unique designs for trendy sock styles for special occasions and seasons.
These things are NOT part of her job description. Shes chartered to sell socks. But instead
shes bringing her knowledge of design, color and style to the customer relationship.
Her
customers reap huge benefits. Inventory is turning faster than ever before, sales are up and
so is profitability.
Her value proposition is highly personal, but its what differentiates her from everyone else in
the marketplace. When shes in a competitive situation, she needs to share what she herself
does for customers and let them know theyre getting a business consultant in addition to a
sock supplier.
This is the new and emerging reality in value propositions. In a world where products rapidly
spiral into commodities and service offerings can be copied overnight, the only real difference
between suppliers is the people involved. You, the seller, become the value proposition and
a huge factor in the decision thats made.
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Value Propositions
& Service Businesses
Many consultants and professional services providers find it difficult to quantify the
measurable results customers realize from using their offerings.
Because of this, they think
they cant come up with a strong value proposition.

I understand why they feel this way. With 15 years of consulting under my belt, none of my
product launch clients measured or assessed the effectiveness of my work. There are many
reasons for this - not enough time to compare before/after results, the lack of a benchmark
and the multiple factors that impact a new products market success. But like many of you, I
lacked good hard data.
However, this did not stop me from talking about what I did in business terms. Rather than
giving exact figures (which was impossible), I emphasized the:
Lag time between product launch and achieving projected sales results.
Critical need to shorten time-to-profitability.
High costs of sales rep downtime preparing PowerPoint presentations and proposals, as well
as the problems caused by delivering inconsistent messages to customers and channel
partners.
Lost windows of opportunity enabling competitive inroads.
Inconsistent messages being delivered to channel partners and customers across the
nation/world.
This value proposition was extremely attractive to senior marketing and sales leaders. As a
result, I had a highly profitable consulting practice in this area for years.
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The other day I talked with an independent professional who also works with sales
organizations. She told me she did training based on the appreciative inquiry model which
builds on what salespeople are already doing right. I asked her what the outcome was of her
methodology. She replied, It energizes the sales force.
After 25 years in the sales field, I can assure you that Ive never met a sales manager or sales
executive who wanted their salespeople to have more energy. They want results pure and
simple. More orders. Fewer losses to the competition. Bigger or more profitable contracts.
Better customer retention. These are the words that belong in your value proposition if youre
selling to sales management,
How could you describe your firm to prospective customers if you did web site design? You
might talk about:
Driving more traffic to the web site.
Decreasing the number of customers who abandon full shopping carts.
Increasing the transaction value per customer.
Improving search engine rankings.
Freeing up corporate resources with improved online capabilities.
What if you do something more nebulous like team building or organizational development?
Perhaps you could talk to your customers about:
Reducing the high cost of employee turnover.
Speeding up time spent on making critical business decisions.
Eliminating management time spent on handling employee conflict.
Maximizing employee productivity at work.
Streamlining processes to increase operational efficiency.
Creating a work environment where creativity flourishes, enabling customers to create a
competitive business advantage.
Minimize destructive turf issues that cost companies millions each year as management
scrambles for power.
Heres one last example: I have a Mentoring Program that helps individuals and companies
boost their sales.
I could easily describe it as telephone consulting. But its far more
effective to tell about the regional engineering firm that called me in to help on a Request for
Proposal. They were a major underdog a regional firm competing against all the big players
in their industry.
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The buyer was conducting one-hour interviews with eight firms. Only three would be invited
back for the second round. My clients only goal was to make the first cut to prove they
could compete with the national consulting firms.
Winning the contract wasnt even a possibility in their minds. They were delighted when they
were invited back for the 2nd presentation. Several days later they received another call from
the customer. Theyd decided the second round of interviews was unnecessary everyone
wanted to work with my client.
With my help they landed a large contract that grew to over $1 million in just 6 months. Now,
wouldnt you like to work with me if you could achieve similar results? This story significantly
enhances my credibility and demonstrates I know what Im doing.
Whatever profession youre in, its critical to talk about your work in business terms. As a
result of working with you, what are the outcomes?
What business results are attained?
Theyre there! You just need to find them.
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Clarifying Your Own

Value Proposition
So how does your value proposition look? Can you describe what you do in terms of tangible
business results? Do you have documented success stories?
Or do you need to do some work to enhance your value proposition? If its not strong enough
yet, dont despair. Like I said earlier, most people and companies have a much stronger one
than they use. They just get caught up describing what they make or how they do things.
Both hard values and soft values need to be considered as you work on strengthening your
value proposition. Youll want to explore how you impact customers in each of these areas.
Hard Value
This is the most easily identifiable because its directly related to your offering and is highly
measurable. Hard value is typically expressed in numbers or percentages. Examples might
be:
Reduce cycle time from 3 days to one.
Cut labor costs by 25%.
Save $100,000 in energy costs.
Increase market share 5%.
Improving productivity 17%.
Typically hard value gains also have related indirect value gains that arent as obvious, but
help strengthen an already strong value proposition.
For example, improving productivity
means fewer workers. With a smaller workforce, the company saves a significant amount in
the benefits area. Less money is spent in recruiting and hiring. These savings can also be
quantified as part of your value proposition.
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A well-designed web site may cut the need for customer service staff. A more efficient JIT
ordering process decreases the amount of warehouse space and its associated costs. A digital
asset management systems ability to repurpose data reduces advertising expenditures.
Always try to quantify the indirect values as well as the direct ones.
Soft Value
Sometimes the value of your offering is not quite so measurable such as lowered risk,
increased teamwork, improved marketplace image, or better morale. Soft value doesnt sell
well in todays economy.
Most decision makers consider it a nice added benefit, but wont
spend money for a solution that only provides soft value.

To increase your sales success, take these intangibles and make them tangible. Find ways to
quantify their value to customers.
Opportunity Costs can also strengthen your value proposition.
An opportunity cost is
something your customer cant do now because of their current methods of operation. For
example, its what they could be doing with the $500,000 savings theyd get from using your
product. Or its the business strategy and associated profits they cant aggressively pursue
because of the internal conflicts that delay decisions.
To strengthen your value proposition, follow the
multiple suggestions discussed in the ensuing pages.
1. Conduct Customer Interviews
Your existing customers are your very best resource to find out what value you bring. Tell
your customer you need help understanding the real value of your offering and youd like a
chance to learn their perspective.
This builds your relationship with customers at the same time it gives you a chance to learn an
incredible amount of invaluable information.
Most people are scared to ask their customers about their value. I know it took me awhile to
get up the guts to do it but when I finally did, it was a real eye-opener.
I had no idea that certain little things I threw in at no charge were extremely valuable to
sales leaders.
Not only did these discussions change my value proposition, but they also
changed my offering and my own self-perception.
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Anytime you ask customers for input, you open yourself up to hearing the not-so-good things
too. If your customer is upset at your company (or you) for any reason, take notes on the
issue and promise to resolve it as soon as possible.
If your customer says negative things about you personally, listen and ask questions. While
this is not what you wanted from this meeting, it is critical data that can help you improve.
Make sure you dont get defensive, make excuses, pass the blame or tell your customer
theyre wrong. If you do, your customer will shut down fast and your credibility will be at risk.
Most importantly, be curious at these meetings.
Explore all your customers answers in
depth to really learn the value you provide.

Example: If your customer tells you that communications improved because of your work
find out what it meant to them.
Did they spend less time settling arguments?
If so, how much less time?
Lost windows of opportunity enabling competitive inroads. What was the value of
that extra time?
Did they use it to accomplish more? Like what?
Because less time was spent bickering, what decisions were easier to make?
How has the company benefited from those decisions?
What additional profits or cost savings were realized from those decisions?
Explore Explore Explore.
This is how you uncover the strength in your value
proposition.
On the next page are questions you can ask customers to determine your true value
proposition. Remember your customers havent thought much, if at all, about the value you
provide. Therefore, the responses you hear may be somewhat vague and initially seem like
little help in clarifying your value proposition.
Dont jump on your customers and demand they quantify your value. Remain conversational
and curious. Gently poke and prod your customer to explore different areas. People need and
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deserve time to think things through and agitating them by demanding hard value answers
right away wont help at all.
Have you ever seen any old Colombo movies or TV reruns? Is so remember how Colombo, a
wily detective who knew a whole lot more than he let on, slowly and softly kept asking
questions until he found what he was looking for.
Emulating this behavior during these
customer meetings will have a high payback for you.

Before you meet with your customer, write down the various problems you think your product
or service solves for them. Next write down the business impact of these problems.
Finally write down the value you think your offering provides. Take this list into the meeting;
use it to prompt you to explore the full-range of your potential value to the customer.
Customer-Value Questions
To get better data, customize your questions to your product or service offering. Consider the
questions below as guidelines for this meeting.
What value did my service/product/solution provide to your company?
-
Where do the benefits show up?
How did that help your bottom line?
What improvements did your realize?
How did it impact performance?
What were the three most important benefits you received as a result of our product/work
together?
-
Why were these valuable to your organization?
What cost/time savings did you realize?
What did our solution enable you to do that you couldnt before?
-
What else? And how did that help your area?
And what else?
What is that worth to your organization?
You said that working with us enabled you to reduce/increase __.

-
Why was that important to you?
How would you quantify its value?
What other areas in your company received benefits because of our work together?
Tell me more about those areas.
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How have things been better since we worked together or you implemented our system?
-
What impact did it have in ___?
How did it affect __?
What were the ramifications for __?
What was the effect on __?
How would you quantify the value of these improvements?

(Note: This is where you probe for specific areas based on the list you developed.)
How did our solution help you achieve your goals/objectives?

-
Whats the value of that?
What problems did it alleviate?
Ask these same questions to more than one person in your customers organization. Talk to
people in different areas and in different positions.
They each have a unique and highly
valuable perspective. Sometimes youll hear something totally new from one person that will
lead you to a much stronger value proposition.
Strengthen your value proposition by looking at the results attained over time.
Annual
savings are always better than hourly, daily or monthly savings.

2. Brainstorm With Colleagues
Get together with a group of colleagues to discuss your value proposition.
Your collective
wisdom and experience provides a broad perspective. Plus it keeps you from only maintaining
a focus on what your product or service can do. Even if you slip back into a description of
your offering, your colleagues will challenge your thinking.
Review your marketing materials. Reflect on your customer knowledge. Think about what
you say that interests and excites your customers and prospects. As a group, here are some
questions you can discuss:
How does your product, service or solution impact your customers bottom line or
expenses?
-
What costs have been eliminated?
Time saved?
Can you quantify a specific hard dollar value gain?
What soft values has it provided?
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What positive impact has your product, service or solution had on bringing additional
revenue/business to your clients?
-
What has the gain been?
Can you determine a specific hard dollar value gain?
Does your product, service or solution enable your customer to achieve any competitive
advantage?
-
Does your product, service or solution have an impact on your customers customer?
-
How has your product, service or solution impacted your customers bottom line or
expenses?
-
What costs have been eliminated?
Time saved?
Can you quantify a specific hard dollar value gain?
If tangible results arent forthcoming, challenge the group to take the discussion to the next
level. Keep asking each other, So what?
So what if its an efficient system?
So what if we have a replicable process?
So what if its high quality?
So what if they have improved communication?
So what if we cut turnaround time by 2 days?
So what if the morale has improved.
Asking these question over and over again, gets you much closer to the real value you bring
to customers. Look for the impact your offering has in the organization. What financial affect
do your products, systems or services have on the business?
Determining your value proposition with only an internal analysis can be dangerous though.
Outside validation by your customers is far more important. It doesnt matter what your
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marketing department thinks is valuable. When it comes down to spending money, its only
your customers perception that counts.
Remember, many companies tout really weak value propositions. And, worse yet nobody
realizes just how bad their value propositions are. Dont let another day go by with a weak
value proposition. Use all the resources at your disposal to strengthen your value proposition.
If youre an independent professional, get a group of colleagues together and brainstorm each
others business case. You need each other to get to your primary value proposition youre
much too close to it to discover it without help.
3. Use Industry Statistics

For a variety of reasons, sometimes its difficult or impossible to measure your value
proposition. If this is your situation, I strongly recommend using industry statistics to support
your work. For example:
75% of executives in big companies involved in a complex sale (long term, multiple
decision makers) blame poor value propositions as a major cause of their new products
failing to achieve projections.
90% of everything learned in training is totally forgotten in 3 months unless sales

management reinforces the learning.
50% of a managers time is spent resolving people issues related to trust issues and poor
communications.
In a recent study done by a well-known management consulting firm, it took laid-off

executives over 100 informational interviews before they started seeing results.
If you think about your business, I suspect you can come up with some statistics also. Again,
they can be great proof sources of the need for your product or service in the market.
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Exercise I: Finding Your Value Proposition
1. Establish the Customers Current Situation

Without your product or service, how do they do things today?
2. Define the Problem or Gaps

What problems does your offering solve?
What opportunities does it create?
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3. Clarify the Business Implications

Explore the Ripple Effect.
Find other areas impacted by the problems/gaps.
4. Determine the Value of Change

Whats the pay-off from using your product/service?
(hard value, soft value, opportunity costs)
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Exercise II: Writing Your Value Proposition

Use the space below to write the first draft of your value proposition.
Comments from Others

When youre done, go get feedback from others. Describe your customer and request that
they listen from that perspective.
Ask: What caught your attention? Is it reflective of the true value I bring customers? How
can I make it stronger?
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Value Propositions
& New Products
When companies introduce new products or services to the market, they frequently fall victim
to the same weak value proposition problems. A recent study on new product launches by
Siebel found that executives overwhelming blamed weak value propositions (75%) as the key
factor in not achieving success with the new offering.
Several years ago I worked with a company that introduced a new digital system into the
printing market. It worked in conjunction with another companys product. This company felt
that the primary value of their offering was in its extraordinary color matching capabilities that
were far superior to anything on the market.
However, sales werent taking off as expected. I was asked to help with a relaunch. In the
process, I interviewed a number of customers. One was big into measurement they had all
the numbers. By using this new product, they were able to:
Cut the staff in one area by 33% and still handle the same amount of work.
Redeploy valuable workers to other areas of their company. (Finding qualified employees
was a major issue in their industry.)
Reduce project turnaround time by days, creating a significant competitive advantage.
Decrease the number of customer changes at a savings of $2000 for each one.
Balance out their workflow, enabling them to delay purchases of extremely pricey
equipment and reduce overtime expenses.
This was my clients true value proposition. But they werent aware of it because they had
never looked at their product beyond its attributes. Great color was nice, but it didnt sell.
Customers needed tangible business results to justify their expenditures.
651-429-1922
Whats the solution? Prior to introducing new products or services, look at the value from the
customers perspective. If your organization conducts beta tests or trials prior to a full rollout,
make sure you dont just focus on working out the bugs.
Instead, ask customers about the value of the capabilities they get with the new offering.
Dont settle for simplistic responses such as, It speeds up our process or Its compatible
with our legacy systems. Ask questions such as:
What does that mean? Why is that valuable to you?
How does that help? What is the real benefit to your organization?
What does it eliminate? Whats the value of that?
What does the faster speed mean to you? How else does it affect your organization?
What impact does it have in other areas in your company?
Whats the benefit of the compatibility to your legacy systems?
Can you help me quantify the pay-off you get from these capabilities?
When you ask questions like these, you get a much better understanding of the true value
proposition of your new offering. The more you know about the customers perspective, the
stronger your value proposition. And, the stronger your value proposition is, the faster youll
see sales results.
651-429-1922
Using Your Value Proposition

Strong value proposition are your best tool for getting appointments with prospective buyers.
Corporate decision makers will nearly always meet with sellers who offer tangible outcomes
and measurable results. And they will only meet with sellers who talk their language and are
focused on helping them achieve their business objectives.
You can also use your value proposition:
To develop a telephone script with bullet points that highlight the key business results your
product, service or solution delivers.
To craft a business letter to decision makers who work at targeted accounts.
As a basis for your marketing campaign and in all your marketing collateral.
As the foundation for a customer-centric PowerPoint presentation.
As the core message delivered in your totally customized customer proposals.
But based on what Ive seen in working with sellers, the biggest benefit you get from
understanding your value proposition is (drum roll) a strengthened belief in your own
offering.
If you truly understand the value you bring to customers from a business perspective, youll
work harder to get into accounts and be less discouraged by rejection. You wont question or
doubt if theres a market for your offering because you will know that what you offer makes a
difference. And ultimately youll sell a lot more!
Remember, a value proposition is a clear statement of the tangible results a customer gets
from using your products or services. Its outcome focused and stresses the business value of
your offering. Now go strengthen yours!
651-429-1922
Jill Konrath
Jill Konrath, President of SellingtoBigCompanies.com and
Leapfrog-Strategies, is an expert in major account sales and
new product launches in the highly competitive B2B market.
For over 20 years she has helped sales organizations leverage
high-gain strategies for increased sales results.
Jill publishes a leading online newsletter, Quantum Leaps
Selling: Ideas & Insights to Increase Sales which is being read
in over 70 countries around the world.
She is the author of Winning More Sales: Take Your Business to
the Next Level with Insightful, Powerful Questions, the JumpStart Your Sales self-study
guide and numerous eBooks on critical sales topics. She has been featured in Sales and
Marketing Management, Selling Power, American Airlines in-flight magazine, Entrepreneur,
Business Advisor, The Business Journal, Sales & Marketing Excellence, Sales Tribune, Sales
Vault, Finance and Commerce, Management Consulting News and numerous on-line
publications.
Her website, SellingtoBigCompanies.com, is an excellent resource for salespeople, small
businesses, entrepreneurs and independent professionals who want to win big contracts at
corporate accounts.
Since forming her consultancy in 1987, Jills clients have ranged from Fortune 100 technology
companies to small professional services firms. She has worked with well-known corporate
giants such as 3M, Imation, General Mills, Medtronic, eFunds, and Honeywell.
Shes successfully launched numerous new products for her clients, as well as trained and
spoken to thousands of salespeople. Her speeches and workshops are filled with real-life
experiences, giving her instant credibility with even the toughest sales audiences.
Contact Information
(ph) 651-429-1922
(fax) 651-426-0983
[email protected]
651-429-1922
Quick Order Form

Email Orders: mailto:[email protected]
Fax Orders: 651-426-0983. Send this form.
Telephone Orders: Call 651-429-1922. Have your credit card ready.
Postal Orders: Jill Konrath, 2227 Foxtail Ct., St. Paul, MN 55110, USA
If youre not satisfied for any reason, you will get a full refund no questions asked.
Sales Tools: Manuals, Self-Study Guide, Audios
Price
Winning More Sales: Take Your Business to the Next Level

with Insightful, Powerful Questions. 167-page manual with over
550+ questions. A proven, step-by-step guide to winning sales
without being a pushy salesperson. Bonus eBook: Stop Losing Sales.
$77.00
PDF
JumpStart Your Sales Self-Study Guide: Complete audio

workshop on how to get your foot-in-the-door of big companies.
Includes: Set of 4 CD/Tapes (please specify), 40-page workbook plus
3 eBooks: Developing Strong Value Propositions, Claiming Your
Niche! and Attracting More Customers. Bonus eBook: Winning Sales
in a Tight Economy.
$147.00
Winning Sales in a Tight Economy: Key strategies to be

successful in todays marketplace. Audiotape or CD (please specify),
plus 10-page workbook.
$37.00
Developing Powerful Value Propositions: How to create such a

strong value proposition that customers want to meet with you.
Audiotape or CD (please specify), plus 10-page workbook.
$37.00
Winning Big Clients When Youre Not a Big Company: How to

get in and win business when youre not a household name.
Audiotape or CD (please specify), plus 8-page workbook.
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eBooks Delivered electronically, PDF format
Price
$19.95
Strong Value Propositions: A prerequisite for getting in to see

busy decision makers.
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Attracting More Customers: How to create a compelling Elevator

Speech that draws the right clients to you.
$19.95
Turning Prospects in Buyers: How to create urgent needs using

powerful questions (included in Winning More Sales Manual).
$19.95
Powerful Executive Meetings: How to have insightful discussions

with senior management (included in Winning More Sales Manual).
$19.95
Winning in Competitive Situations: How to use questions to

differentiate yourself and win sales when up against tough
competitors (included in Winning More Sales Manual).
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Absolutely Irresistible: The #1 strategy to get your foot-in-thedoor and its not what you think.
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What is a value proposition and how does it differ from an elevator speech or unique selling proposition?

What is a value proposition and how does it differ from an elevator speech or unique selling proposition?

What are some examples of weak value propositions?

What are some examples of weak value propositions?

Selling to Big Companies

Strong Value Propositions 2

Copyright @ 2003, Jill Konrath. All rights reserved.

Copyright Jill Konrath 2003

Strong Value Propositions 3

Customer-Attracting Value Propositions

Value Propositions & Service Businesses

Exercise I: Finding Your Value Proposition

Exercise II: Writing Your Value Proposition

Value Propositions & New Products

Copyright Jill Konrath 2003

Strong Value Propositions 4

What is a Value Proposition?

But what exactly is a

About 10 seconds long, its used

primarily at networking events to attract potential clients and stimulate discussion.

Copyright Jill Konrath 2003

Strong Value Propositions 5

Here are a few good USP examples:

USPs are far

more effective in the business-to-consumer market than in business-to-business sales.

Its outcome focused and stresses the business value of your

Copyright Jill Konrath 2003

Strong Value Propositions 6

Stressed Out Buyers

And, if youre selling something youre an undesirable

extended needs analysis or explore the possibilities of working together.

Copyright Jill Konrath 2003

Strong Value Propositions 7

Ineffective and Unappealing

Copyright Jill Konrath 2003

Strong Value Propositions 8

If youre like most people, youre saying, So what?

Why should I waste my

valuable time talking to you?

Copyright Jill Konrath 2003

Strong Value Propositions 9

Copyright Jill Konrath 2003

Strong Value Propositions 10

Corporate buyers are

particularly attracted to phrases such as:

Copyright Jill Konrath 2003

Strong Value Propositions 11

They dont care about the wonderful

methodology you use. They care about the results it delivers.

Tangible, Measurable Results

Yet many companies fail to extend their benefits into actual

numbers. If its possible for you to do this, it is highly recommended.

Sellers as the Real Value Proposition

But many sellers do bring extraordinary value to their

customers sometimes in easily quantifiable ways, sometimes not.

But not for this

Copyright Jill Konrath 2003

Strong Value Propositions 12

Copyright Jill Konrath 2003

Strong Value Propositions 13