Election campaigns are all about articulating your value proposition. Why should I vote for you. What are you going to do for me?
Watching the current campaign, you can learn a lot about how to (or not) craft business value propositions which hopefully cut through the clutter and get you to make a decision on who to vote for.
Assume for the purposes of this discussion that you’re a swinging voter. i.e. you haven’t decided who you’re going to vote for.
Until a couple of days ago, we were barraged with meaningless motherhood statements and slogans like “moving forward” or “stop the boats” and “no more big new taxes”.
Watching the Leaders’ debate the other night (and it says a lot that MasterChef was more popular), I thought both Julia and Tony were on their best behaviour and frankly, as boring as bat-shit.
There was no tangible value proposition.
Everything was superficial and it was difficult to get a handle on who Julia and Tony were as people. And you had no idea why you should choose one over the other, or what they’d actually deliver if elected.
Is this what’s happening in your business?
Your prospects are like swinging voters. They have choice.
Do your prospects know why they should “elect you”? Why should they choose you over everyone else in your class and give you their hard earned money? What are you promising to do for them? And how will they know you’ll keep your word and deliver?
Sadly, most businesses mouth platitudes like “we’re the best”, “quality”, “trust”, “integrity”, “excellence”, “full service”, “we care” etc., etc.
And frankly, these should be givens. Slogans like these don’t tell me specifically why you should buy from me, or what you can specifically do for me.
To be successful your business must have personality. Be controversial. Take a stand. It’s the best way of cutting through the clutter.
You must be out there telling your audience why you’re superior – in detail. You must tell them what they’ll get when doing business with you. Be tangible and specific.
For example tell me your product increases my productivity by 300%, allows me to use cheaper, less skilled labour, still produces the same quality and more profit.
And then you need to prove it.
Use testimonials and case studies that show how you’ve achieved these results for other people.
Remember, busy decision makers don't care about what you're selling. They only care about what it does for them. That's why a value propositions is so important today. It's a clear statement about the tangible business results customers get from using your product, service or solution.
Use your value proposition in your phone calls, emails, voicemails and presentations to help customers understand why it's worth their time to meet with you.
Rashid.
Share this Article
