Technology marketers need to establish a set of value propositions to address their customers specific requirements and build more qualified selling opportunities.
Selling your technology based solely on features, pricing, function or even performance will limit your success over a long period of time.
An effective value proposition for your technology describes what your solution can do in terms of tangible business results for the customer. However, it’s more than a statement of offer or a selling-line. It’s a commitment to deliver a specific combination of resulting experiences, (including a price, to a group of target customers, profitably and better than the competition.)
Your technology should NOT have a singular value proposition, it is essential to recognize that the proposition should reflect value that is important to individual customers
Effective value propositions provide your organization with a number of important benefits:
- create a strong differential between you and your competitors
- increase the quantity and quality of sales leads
- win market share in your targeted segments
- align your business operations more closely to customer needs
Your value proposition should focus on individual customer needs. Value is the benefit customers perceive when they select a technology solution to a real problem. Focusing only on your technology solution features and benefits offers no value to the customer. For a value proposition to be successful, the customer must perceive that your proposition is superior to every alternative being considered.
Tailor your value propositions to individual customer needs
Many companies try to develop a single value proposition. This is a wrong approach because each customer has different needs and business problems. Effective value propositions are customized to the specific needs of each customer. Although a marketing team can develop value propositions aimed at groups of customers or market segments, it is essential for the sales team to create a unique value proposition that fits individual customers’ specific needs.
The proposition can be refined even further by tailoring it to the needs and concerns of individual decision-makers. To be successful, you need to present the value that means the most to each individual at the time the decision is being made.
Keep your value propositions current
Customers’ needs change, so effective value propositions must be updated to meet the changing needs of customers as well as competitive initiatives. Value based solely on product features, functions, performance, and pricing is not sustainable. If a competitor presents a better offer, your value proposition becomes meaningless.
Communicate your proposition
Getting the value proposition right takes in-depth research, an interest in the needs of your prospective customers, and the discipline to keep refining and testing your proposition. These are the key preliminary stages.
- Understand the motivations and demands of your audience—this is the key to having emotional appeal within your communications.
- Distill the technical components of your product or service into benefits—this allows you to engage your audience with relevant information and to answer each reader’s, “What’s in it for me?” question.
- Establish the scope of your proposition—where, when, and how you intend to use it.
Take a look at a recent editorial on BNET Developing Value Propositions to review some key considerations to further establish your value proposition and allow your organization to achieve more selling opportunities.
