Maximizing The Power Of Your Sales Proposition
Being heard over the competition in a crowded marketplace takes a special type of message. Indeed it takes a message that is up to 10 times more powerful.
Most sales and marketing literature ends up in the bin To understand why we conducted research on why some seller messages get heard, while most others don’t. The result is a formula for maximizing the power of your proposition.
Test The Strength Of Your Benefits
The strength of a benefit is measured in terms of its impact, or appeal. A strong benefit grabs the prospect’s attention. It is heard over the noise and is likely to be remembered.
How to measure the strength of a benefit? Well, as the table shows it is pretty straight-forward:
| Benefit Strength: |
How Its Communicated: | |
| Weak | Verbalised | It is expressed in adjectives (e.g. delivers major savings) |
| Medium | Quantified | It is expressed with numbers, or percentages (e.g. 3 times faster). |
| Strong | Monetized | It is expressed in the dollars, euro and pounds (e.g. cuts costs from 26c to 2c per tonne). |
The key point is a proposition with numbers is much more powerful than one with just words. However, if our sample is anything to go by 3 out of 5 benefits contain no numbers, just words. That means they can be classified as ‘weak’.
Test The Credibility Of Your Benefits
The strength of your sales proposition is one key dimension of its power. But a strong benefit is of little value unless it is believed. Credibility is therefore the second dimension upon which we measure the power, or effectiveness of a proposition.
How to measure the credibility of a benefit, or proposition? Again its pretty straight-forward, as the table shows:
|
Who Communicates It: | |||||
| Weak | You say it | The claims are made by your marketing and you expect customers to take you at your word |
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| Medium | An experts, or other authority says it | Your claims are backed up/endorsed by an expert, or recognised authority (e.g. certification body) | ||||
| Strong | Your customers say it | Your customers relate their own direct experience of your company either in quotes, references, or case studies. | ||||
To read the full whitepaper click here.
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