This mini-series is about structured selling. To build a good structure for your sales, start with the value proposition. That phrase is heard often in sales and in my opinion is over-complicated. The simple definition of value proposition is “your solution to a specific problem.” In this episode I’ll help you know how to narrow the scope of the problem and create a solution which appeals to the merchants.
I love the statement, “Nobody ever goes to buy a drill; they go to buy a hole.” Someone needs to make a hole in the wall. Therefore, buying a drill is really paying for a hole in the wall, not a drill! This analogy compares to sales. You won’t be selling your value proposition. Rather, you’re selling a solution to somebody’s problem. Make certain the problem is clearly identified.
The narrower the scope of the problem, the easier for you to market that value proposition (or problem solver.) For example, you might say, “The problem I’m trying to solve is that people pay too much for merchant services.” Although you CAN have some success at solving that problem, there are many others trying to solve that same broad problem. This would be a more specific problem, “Pizza shops are paying to much for credit card processing. I want to save them money.” Now you can make marketing materials especially for pizza shops and address specific concerns of that niche.
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Go even a step further in our example by saying, “Pizza shops have lines that are too long; they are too slow at the check-out counter. I want to solve that problem and add merchant services with it.” Finding a specific solution in that way is great. Get as close as you can to a very specific issue. Make sure the issue has these two properties.
#1. Solving that problem should be tangibly valuable to the decision makers. They should WANT to solve that problem.
#2. The problem should be one which they are interested in solving. Because you know they would make and/or save a lot of money by solving the problem is not enough. You must ask if the market is ready. Do they want to solve the problem right now? If not, the value proposition won’t matter. If they’re not interested in solving the problem, you won’t get anywhere.
Once you’ve established those two criteria, you’ll have your value proposition. I hope this helps you identify the problem and create a solution which appeals to the merchants. Don’t miss the next episode when we take another step in structuring your sales for success.
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