How to Write a Strong Sales Value Proposition
Walking down the street one day, you notice two kids sitting at a table in front of their house with two identical jugs of pink juice. One has a sign reading “Delicious Iced Lemonade: Vitamin C Goodness” and the other sign reads “Flavored Sugar Water.”
Which would you choose?
When products are hard to differentiate, it all comes down to the value proposition.
In the business world, having a strong sales value proposition can make or break your success.
Are you struggling to increase your sales and grow your business? Crafting a strong sales value proposition is crucial. It's important to identify your strengths, product offerings, and principles and differentiate yourself from competitors.
By crafting a well-written value proposition statement, you can showcase your core beliefs to potential customers, communicate the value you bring, and explain why they should choose you over your rivals. This will help increase sales, nurture leads, and build brand loyalty.
Here’s everything you need to know about writing your own.
What Is a Value Proposition?
A value proposition is a concise statement that encapsulates your brand offering to customers. It highlights what customers can gain by opting for your product or service (i.e. what value your goods add to their lives).
Your unique value proposition also communicates what sets you apart from your competitors. It states why your brand or product better fulfills the needs or wants of the buyer.
This statement, therefore, forms the foundation of your targeted marketing strategy and sales plan. When you understand your core value or advantage over competitors, you can use it to drive your sales and engage customers.
Knowing how to explain why the customer should support you can be the difference between making a sale and losing a potential customer.
Sales Value Proposition vs Other Sales and Marketing Statements
It’s easy to confuse your value statement with other aspects of your branding and communications. Although a value proposition can support and have commonalities with your mission statement, slogan, or tagline, these are entirely different elements.
A mission statement outlines your company's core goals, while your value proposition speaks to your product and service range.
Taglines are short and more conceptual statements that elucidate a part of your business. These are easily recognizable, form an instant connection to your brand, and speak to an idea that your brand embodies. Value propositions, on the other hand, provide a more tangible look into your brand value.
Slogans are marketing-specific and often used as a direct tool to sell your products. A great slogan uses elements of a brand’s value proposition.
Think of the slogan “Enjoy Coca-Cola” – it contains hints of the elements of enjoyment and refreshment that gets the customer thinking about thirst and how it might be best quenched.
While value propositions can also serve this function, they don’t often appear in ads or marketing campaigns as slogans do.
How to Develop an Effective Sales Value Proposition
When it comes to selling a product or service, having a strong value proposition can make all the difference. Developing an effective one can be challenging, but with the right approach, you can create a compelling message that resonates with potential customers.
Here are the steps to crafting a sales value proposition that will work for you.
Identify Your Target Market
The first step in crafting your sales value statement is to know your target customer. Who do you want to sell your product to, and what do they place value on?
To create a compelling statement, you need to understand what your customer needs and how your product or service helps them address a challenge.
Gaining insight into your customer base will require extensive research into potential customers’ shopping journeys, competitors, industry standards, etc.
You can also utilize survey tools to get feedback from existing customers. Leverage digital research techniques such as social listening and keyword research to give you a broad look into customer buying behaviors. Consult with your sales and marketing team members, as they can provide perspective on the main gaps customers have that your product can address.
Use these to design a customer profile that highlights what your customers need or want and how you help them get it.
Analyze Your Competitors’ Value Proposition
Understanding your competition is another vital part of designing a strong value proposition. Evaluate what value element they focus on in their proposition statement. Which of their customers’ needs, wants, or challenges do they address?
Once you understand what they see as their value, you can analyze whether they actually meet this proposition. This can help you decide whether your value proposition can directly challenge theirs and fill a gap in customer needs that they do not meet. Or, it can guide you to identifying another value they do not emphasize.
Looking at competitors’ propositions is also an excellent way to learn more about your field and better understand your position in it.
Emphasize the Unique Features of Your Product/Service
Now that you understand what your competitors propose as their value offerings, you can define yours.
By making a comprehensive list of all the products or services in your range, you can identify the specific features that set you apart from the rest of the market. It's important to highlight the unique selling points of each item you offer to customers, as this will help you to create a strong brand identity and establish yourself as a leader in your industry. By doing so, you can attract more customers, build better relationships with them, and ensure long-term success for your business.
Showcase the Benefits of Your Product/Service
Once you have these features listed, you can use them to describe the primary value they offer buyers. How do these features add value to or benefit your customer?
You want to do this in two parts:
First, your statement must explain its main benefit, linking to your customer's needs or wants.
In the second part of the statement, you want to explain why this benefit would matter to the customer. Show them how the benefit can improve their lives.
When you focus on the value that your product or service provides, you can better connect with potential customers and increase your chances of making a sale.
Testing and Refining Your Value Proposition
Business value propositions don’t have to stay the same over time. They can benefit from a review and revamp from time to time as customer spending patterns, economic conditions, and other factors change.
To keep your value proposition adaptable, develop a proposition template you can use during reviews. This can include some of the questions answered in the previous steps:
What does the current customer need or want?
How does my product/service address this need, want, or challenge?
Has my target customer changed? If yes, who are they now?
What unique features does my brand offer?
What primary benefit do these features give to customers?
Why should this benefit matter to my customers?
In addition to this internal review, you can seek customer feedback to see whether your value proposition communicates what it should. Also, involve your sales team in this process, as they can give you a sense of whether the statement works effectively in active sales conversations.
Understanding the Role of a Great Value Proposition in the Sales Process
Your value proposition will play an essential role in various aspects of your business. This simple statement speaks volumes and governs your branding, marketing, sales, and other strategies.
Some of the main instances where your value proposition will be useful in highlighting your offering include:
On digital platforms like your website. Here, the statement serves as a concise and clear reason customers should spend their money on your product or service. It can bolster lead conversions. Your value proposition should be clear and easy to find for anyone looking to learn more about your company. Therefore, you should include it in all your digital and other sales and marketing channels.
In sales presentations and pitch meetings. Your value proposition is your greatest asset when trying to get investors or funders to back your brand. It tells them exactly what you offer and why customers will buy it.
In mailers and signage at events and conferences
Company videos
In merchandise
Whenever you’re faced with the question of what your business does or offers.
If you view your value statement as a compressed pitch of your company, you can leverage it effectively. Not only does this mean being careful and smart about your choice of words, but it also means thinking about other elements that emphasize your pitch. How can visuals, design, and other brand identity elements emphasize your statement?
A strong value proposition will achieve the balance between succinctness and emotive appeal. Play around with different media modes to achieve this and share your brand’s story successfully.
Examples of Strong Sales Value Propositions
These are some of the best value proposition examples from marketing campaigns and brands:
Netflix: “Watch anywhere. Cancel anytime.”
Uber: “Tap your phone. Get where you’re headed.”
Spotify: “Music for everyone.”
Airbnb: “A new Airbnb for a new world of travel.”
Duolingo: “Learn a language for free. Forever.”
These value propositions work because they focus on the two main elements we highlighted in the steps above.
One, they tell you what the brand offers, and two, they emphasize why their offering is unique.
Strengthening Your Sales Strategy With a Solid Value Proposition
The biggest thing to remember when considering value propositions is that they’re all about simplicity. Your proposition asks you to whittle away at the extras and truly define what you’re about and why customers should care. With this in mind, value propositions constantly evolve and form a major part of your business’s ongoing sales success.
Refine your value proposition today to create an irresistible brand that captivates potential investors. We can help you with this and many other elements of your sales and marketing strategies. Discover the tangible benefits we've delivered to diverse organizations by exploring our success stories.