All too many organizations and sales people overlook key aspects of optimizing value proposition for results – i.e., sales. Optimizing value proposition starts at the organizational level, but sales people working in the field must also be knowledgeable and comfortable working with value propositions according to each selling situation. These tips for optimizing value proposition can help organizations and sales forces optimize the value proposition as a flexible entity that can improve prospects’ receptivity and increase sales.

Optimizing Value Proposition for Maximum Impact

For any product or service there are multiple assertions that a sales person could make to show the product’s value, but optimizing value proposition is about finding the assertions that have the most impact. This usually means basing value on what differentiates a product or service from the competition as well as what it can do for the prospect.

• Evaluate the core areas important to potential consumers – their needs, interests, and goals
• Pick one or two differentiators that set your organization apart from all others, and a further set of differentiators for each of your products and services
• Identify commonalities between these differentiators to support your organization’s key marketing messages

For some prospects, the value proposition of an organization is equal to or more important than the value proposition of a product or service, so it is important for sales people to be prepared to optimize value proposition through either channel based on prospect signals. Ideally, the value demonstrated through each channel should become part of a complimentary whole that proves the benefits of doing business with your organization over any other.

Optimizing Value Proposition to Build Trust

In order to buy, prospects first need to trust. This includes trust in the product or service, trust in the selling relationship, and trust in the organization. A sales person’s task is then to show how the value proposition is worthy of the prospect’s trust, demonstrating what makes the value proposition true rather than just throwing out flat statements like “this is the best in the industry” or “no one else can do that!” Support with measurable, believable proofs is the means to optimizing value proposition, and can be done through:

• Written or verbal references from past satisfied customers
• Presentations incorporating high-level, hard data proving the value claims along with traditional emotive selling based on prospect signals
• Marketing materials with competitive comparisons, fact-based projections, and other verifiable information
• Supporting the whole with a relationship-based approach to selling

Optimizing Value Proposition to the Time and Medium

Value propositions are perceived according to how and when they are received. A value proposition that is delivered verbally during an initial sales call will help a sales person get a prospect’s attention, but as the contact with a prospect evolves so must that value proposition. Think of optimizing value proposition in terms of a pyramid: The initial value pitch will be brief and at the top, and as sales people continue through the sales cycle they will build deeper value beneath it.

Optimizing value proposition will also vary according to the medium used to convey it. What sounds natural in speech will rarely sound natural in an e-mail, and vice versa. Sales people should understand the core of the value proposition so that it can be tailored to the medium and audience wherever required while maintaining the same selling messages.

Optimizing Value Proposition Increases Sales

If people working at any level of an organization, be it sales, marketing, customer service, or elsewhere, are not optimizing value proposition to the organization, offering, audience, and medium, the value proposition is not likely to succeed. It is only through channeling all of the above aspects of optimizing value proposition that sales will increase. Ensure that those who are working with your organization’s offering, particularly those in sales, are attuned to optimizing value proposition with all of these components in mind for the best sales results.