Think About It… the e-book version

by Todd Youngblood

Quite often the inspiration for a great sales idea comes from a source way outside our industry or normal frame of reference. What follows is a story about a really creative value proposition. How can you use its message for your own business?

Rep after rep after rep tells me it’s much easier for other reps to articulate a compelling value proposition. That “my business is incredibly competitive.” That differentiation – standing out from the crowd – is “much more difficult for me than for just about anyone else.” OK, crafting a powerful value proposition is a challenge, but you think you have it rough?

Picture yourself as the lead sales rep for a charitable organization whose mission is to help the poor in the developing world. This is just about the toughest competitive landscape I can imagine. There are literally thousands of other groups asking for contributions to virtually identical causes. Many have been around for years and years. They all have bigger budgets, better visibility, etc., etc., etc. There’s no way to come up with a unique approach that hasn’t been tried before, right?

Well, sure there’s a way. You’d probably start by thinking about your audience’s perspective and core values. They already have a favorite charity or two, and that’s where they contribute their hard-earned money. They want to be sure that their gift goes as directly as possible to someone who could really use the help; to someone that will use the donation appropriately; to someone who will apply the help as a stepping stone to self-sufficiency; to someone they can identify with at some level.

You’d build your value proposition around those ideas. An “average” rep would say something like “Our organization is a leader in putting your hard-earned contribution to the best use possible.” Ho-hum… We’ve all heard that lame, empty “leader” claim before. You would package the thoughts something like, “Lend your hard-earned cash to specific entrepreneurs and empower them to lift themselves out of poverty.”

Now that’s a novel way to get people thinking about where to place donations. It’s not a handout to some anonymous someone. It’s “lend,” not “give.” It sounds more like a partnership arrangement than charity. It’s “specific entrepreneurs” who with a bit of help from me will “lift themselves.” I don’t know about you, but it reminded me of the help I got early in my career. Made me wonder if there really was a way to “help the poor in the developing world” in a manner similar to how I myself was helped. It prompted me to follow the link to Kiva to learn more. (…and for what it’s worth, I’m now partnering with a whole new group of entrepreneurs I met there.)

A trio of closing thoughts this month…

• Always be on the hunt for examples of value propositions. You’ll find great ones in unexpected places that you can adapt and use.

• Value propositions that focus on the customer’s core values work better (i.e., not just benefits, but the underlying reasons why those benefits are perceived as valuable)

• Truly excellent value propositions keep the customer coming back for more. I find myself drawn back to Kiva at least once a month to see how my new partners are doing.