In B2B selling, we never win on the first call. When meeting with a customer for the first time you have one simple goal: Get the second meeting.
If getting the second meeting is the goal, the minimum acceptable effect your value proposition must have on decision-makers, is to create enough “suspicion of value” that they ask for more information. Your value proposition must get the customer to want to spend more time learning about your offering – the second meeting.
For many years, I’ve coached sales people and business leaders in how to create value propositions specific to their customers and clients. I’ve taught them to create what I call a 30-3-30. This is the compilation of a 30-minute presentation, 3-minute conversation and 30-second value proposition. I have them start with the 30-second value proposition, which spawns common reactions.
“Don’t you want to hear the whole pitch before we figure out the 30-seconds?”
“I can’t present all the things we do in just 30 seconds.”
“Let me pull up my presentation.”
I started the discipline of creating and delivering the 30-second value proposition when I was first learning how to sell at American Bank Stationery, in my early 20’s. I needed something that would keep people from hanging up on me, changing the subject or just walking away. I learned I had about 30 seconds in which to get them to want to ask me a question before they lost interest.
I’ve since found that creating the 30-second value proposition results in much more than getting someone to talk to me. The three main benefits I’ve found working with great sales people and business leaders are:
Common direction – Having spirited debate to decide the core value you deliver is a great exercise to get everyone on the same page. Even when contemplating it alone it forces you to pare things down to what is most important to your customer. At the end of the debate, you have a common, consistent message that has a high likelihood of creating a “suspicion of value” in the decision-maker’s mind.
Clarity of value – Having a common, consistent direction unites your team around the value of your offering. Thinking through how to create a “suspicion of value” leads you and your stakeholders to a better understanding of the value. This makes you more credible and viable in representing your offering.
Actionable foundation – Being certain of your value proposition serves as the foundation on which you can build customized presentations and discussions for each customer. With clarity of value as your foundation you can structure customer engagements using their language to tout your value.
That said I created this discipline 20 years ago. Is it still relevant today? The answer is YES. You still meet potential new customers every day who enter the conversation not knowing why they’d want to buy anything from you. However, while creating a “suspicion of value” in less than 30 seconds is still valuable, it’s not enough anymore.
With the advent of social media (e.g. Twitter, Facebook, Reddit, Tumblr, LinkedIn, etc.) along with our culture that demands quickly accessible information, on demand, a 30-second written statement is like a book. What we now need is to be able to create a “suspicion of value” in 3 seconds or 140 characters or less.
This is an example of my 30-second value proposition:
Companies don’t make buying decisions. People do. When people choose who to buy from they’re looking for just five things. The Five Abilities® enables you to focus precisely on the best next actions that deliver those five things to customers in a way that causes them to choose you over your competition.
The most common customer response is, “What are The Five Abilities?” Success!!!
With today’s social media realities, I now create 3-second value propositions like:
When making buying decisions, key decision-makers look for five things. #TheFiveAbilities #SalesSuccess
(103 characters with spaces.)
Build your 3-second and 30-second value propositions today.
©2014 Rick Wong – The Five Abilities® LLC
