When facilitating SOAR I will often ask, what is your value statement? And more often than not I am provided with the Salesperson’s value proposition as opposed to their complete value statement. And over the December holidays I was asked what the difference is between a value statement and value proposition. This is my answer.
When a Salesperson makes a prospecting phone call, once contact is made with the Decision Maker every word out of their mouth is part of their value statement. The reason the Decision Maker will listen to you and ultimately agree to a next step is entirely based on your Value Proposition.
All me to explain.
There are 4 key components to a compelling value statement. They are:
- Your Introduction
- The Reason For Your Call
- YOUR VALUE PROPOSITION
- Close For Next Steps
From the moment the Decision Maker hears the Salesperson’s voice they start to assess them and create a story about that person. Do they want to talk to them? Do they trust them etc. If you are a recipient of “cold calls” wouldn’t you agree that you do the same thing? I certainly do.
So, let’s define the 4 components of a Value Statement:
Your Introduction: fairly self explanatory, however your introduction is your way of letting the Decision Maker know who you are and where you are calling from. This could include your name, your last name, your company name and even the city that you are calling from.
NOTE 1: Asking “how are you?” or some version of that is entirely up to you. Some ask it consistently with great success and others don’t like it at all.
NOTE 2: Including your geographical location has a very positive effect when speaking to a prospect so I encourage you include that information as part of your intro.
The Reason For Your Call: when the call is over what are you hoping for? Whatever that might be, that is the reason for the call and letting the prospect know your intention early in the call will go a long way to having a quality, complete call with the prospect.
NOTE: most salespeople miss this part. They introduce themselves and move right into their value proposition. For example: “Hi ________, it’s __________ calling from ________. We are a….and have worked with….”
There is a much more effective next line after your introduction. If interested in knowing what my suggested sentence is, send me a LinkedIn message directly and I’d be happy to share that with you.
YOUR VALUE PROPOSITION: this is your opportunity to provide some insight into what your company does, research that you’ve conducted about their company, industry or their role in general. You could also include connectors between you and the prospect such as working for the same company previously, are from the same home town and/or have mutual connections. This part of the call will determine if you are able to secure your desired next step. If this is on the money, you’re in. If you’re off, you’ll likely be hit with an objection or two.
NOTE: your value proposition is probably going to be 2-3 sentences in length. It’s not an exact science of course, but if looking for a range to stay within, 2-3 sentences is appropriate.
It is also worth nothing that your value proposition is also the variable to the call. Your introduction is likely to remain static no matter who you call. The reason for your call will also most likely remain the same as well. However your value prop, when attempting to tailor to each Decision Maker you contact, will change based on the research you’ve conducted.
CLOSE FOR NEXT STEPS: at this point you’ve said everything that you wanted to say. They know who you are, what your intention is, why they should be listening to you so now is the time to close them for next steps by actually asking them for it. In some cases your ideal next step is a face-to-face meeting, in other cases it is a conference call, an online demo or even a closed deal on the spot (pending on how transactional your sale and sales cycle). No matter what your preferred next step is, you have to ask for it!
So there you have it. Take pride in your work and represent your personal brand as well as your company’s brand to the highest degree. What’s worth doing is worth doing correctly the first time and remember that your intention matters as that is the result you’ll tend to get.
Paul
