Jill Konrath

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 can’t 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 product’s market success. But like many of you, I lacked good hard data.

Here are a few examples of how to measure value propositions to get you thinking:

Sales Training / New Product Launch

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 it’s not strong enough yet, don’t despair. Most people and companies have a much stronger value proposition than they realize.

Here are 3 ways you can unlock the impact your product or service has on on your customers' business objectives:

I wish all my prospects were just like me. It would be so much easier to sell to them. But, that’s not the case. People are who they are and it’s our job to get them comfortable working with us.

One very effective rapport building technique is to mirror your prospect's behavior. It quickly puts them at ease with you.

The toughest person I ever had to deal with was Don Diggerman. He was a wonderful man. Seriously. A real nice guy. But I dreaded talking to him.

To get sales meetings, the business value of your  offering must be crystal clear.

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.

Powerful value propositions open doors – quickly! Taking time to really clarify yours is well worth the time invested in the process.

Here are 2 ways to create sales messages that work in today's business economy.

1. Fill your sales message with business-oriented terminology.

Strong value propositions are always stated in business terms. Corporate buyers are particularly attracted to phrases such as:

If you’re selling to the corporate market, one of the biggest challenges you
encounter is getting face time with decision makers.

Corporate buyers, after years of continual down sizings 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 can’t help them achieve their business objectives.

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:

Without a strong value proposition, it’s much harder to sell your products or services in today’s economy, much less even get in the door of big companies. But what 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.” It’s essential to understand the difference between these terms because their purposes and sales impact are very different.

Could you possibly be confusing your prospects with business jargon? I’m sure you wouldn’t do it intentionally, but if you don’t pay close attention you might still be doing it.

If you're like most sellers, you want to create the perfect message -- one that your prospects will read and immediately pick up the phone to invite you into their offices.

You agonize over what to include in it. You struggle to find just the right words to showcase your expertise without sounding like you're a braggart. You wonder just how much you should include about your company, products and services.  And sometimes, you even write to me for advice!

Here's the deal. You need to get over it.

Connections matter. Big time. Recent research from Reachable.com shows just how much it impacts you're ability to get a callback from a "stranger." In fact, you're: 

• 3x more likely if you contact a mutual acquaintance.
• 4x more likely if the connection calls to make an introduction.
• 11x more likely if they have an actual connection. 

See. It does make a difference. But most sellers don't know how to leverage their LinkedIn connections nearly as much as they could. 

To help you expand your thinking, here are some TRUE STORIES shared by people who took our 2013 Sales & LinkedIn Survey. By reading them, you'll discover numerous ways you can get in touch with someone even if you don't have a 1st level connection. 

I was reading a non-sales related blog post the other day when suddenly I came to a screeching halt. Two words jumped out at me. And, I immediately thought – these words capture exactly what it takes to be successful in sales today.