When you create and communicate a value proposition to your customers, you want a statement that not only matters to them, but also boasts a few things that few, if any, competitors can claim. Many people struggle to truly understand what makes their company different and/or better than other options that customers can choose. To be clear, there are many things that make you different from your competitors that are important to your customers, but identifying and articulating them is a challenge unless you have a truly unique product, service or even business model. At Scorecard Sales, we see these common Value Proposition Mistakes daily, and we help teams identify and articulate their truly unique product, service, or business model through our Integrative Sales Improvement Process. Customers always have options, and there is a reason why they chose to do business with you; taking the time to ask them what that reason is will give you valuable insight.
There is, however, a bit of a lazy route that salespeople and others and the company take when creating a unique value proposition, and that is relying on the lowest common denominators that everyone uses: quality, service, trust, price and years of business. Why? Because these are the baseline expectations of each of your customers, and your competitors will always make the same claim, a topic we cover in Sales Methods Mastery. It all sounds like noise to the customer, and avoiding these Value Proposition Mistakes is the first step toward standing out. While these elements are important, customers usually expect them as part of the package, so let’s explore these 5 specific errors in detail.
Quality – This is the big one so let’s get this one out of the way. Very rarely does a customer expect or desire to purchase something of low quality. They may choose something of lower quality if it meets a variety of needs such as price or availability, but they still expect some level of quality. If you’re looking for professional sales coaching, you’ll learn that advertising “quality” without being specific is one of the most common Value Proposition Mistakes. Unless your quality is truly unique—like fresh local ingredients—it all sounds the same to the customer.
Service – This is the other big one we have to deal with. Almost every company you talk to will tell you that they have great service. Even when they don’t, they still think they do and will make that claim proudly, which is why we emphasize real-world application in our sales training courses. Like quality, if there is a unique aspect about your service that competitors can’t replicate, include it. Like quality, if there is a unique aspect about your service that matters to customers and competitors can’t replicate, then by all means include it. Otherwise, focus on other things that are unique and valuable about who you are and what you sell.
Trust – This one is a pet peeve of mine and it seems to go hand-in-hand with quality and service. How many commercials have you seen where the tagline is, “Quality & Service you can Trust.” How can you even back up a claim like this” I’m not calling your trustworthiness into question but it is too vague and usually meaningless to customers when they hear it in a slogan.
Price – Every customer expects that you give them a fair price, and although not everyone uses this as a unique value proposition, it still happens more than it should. The concept of good prices is very subjective to the customer and, unless being the lowest consistent price is part of your business strategy, you should probably move on from this. For a deeper dive into pricing strategy and specialized services, we recommend focusing on value rather than cost to avoid these Value Proposition Mistakes.
Years In Business – There is certainly nothing wrong with being proud of the legacy of success your company has had since its inception, but is that something customers are really looking for when they are making a decision to buy? Maybe every so often, but not nearly enough to invest your marketing dollars into it. This is probably something that does more to make you feel good than it does your customers.
