Chapter 2

Creating Your Possible Value Proposition

You will get whatever you want in life by helping enough others get what they want.

—Zig Ziglar

I often surprise the participants in my training workshops by spontaneously pulling out a digital camera and screaming, “Group photo time!” I tell them to smile, holler, and wave and that they can view the photo the next day on my Facebook fan page (www.Facebook.com/ArtSobczak). Then I ask whose face they will look at first when they view the photo.

Of course, everyone sheepishly smiles and says, “Myself.”

We then discuss how we all, mostly, care about ourselves. We’re looking out for number one, baby.

But this might surprise some salespeople: Prospects do not share those same feelings about you. In fact, they do not care about you at all, because they have their own group photo mind-set. They are not concerned about your quota; they don’t give a rat’s behind about what you want to do. You think you have a great product or service? Not a blip on their radar.

The prospects care mostly about . . . the prospects. About they will do next, and how it will affect them. And that is what you need to care mostly about as well: the prospect. If you want any chance at all at being successful with Smart Calling, everything you think about, do, and say needs to be about the prospect.

So get over yourself. You are not going to buy from you. From this point forward, it is all about them.

Where am I going with this?

When you embrace the all-about-them mind-set, you distinguish yourself from the typical self-interested salesperson or cold caller whom everyone tries to avoid. Two very basic fundamentals of sales that I have taught for more than 30 years are:

The all-about-them philosophy compels you to think about how to ideally build your calls using Smart Calling and allows us to do a couple of things in the process:

This chapter’s ultimate goal is for you to create Possible Value Propositions, which are the specific words and phrases you’ll use in voice mails, with screeners, and in your opening statements. The statement’s intent is to stimulate curiosity and interest in speaking with you while minimizing the chance for resistance. You also will use these Possible Value Propositions (PVPs) to develop need-uncovering questions to learn if your prospects see value in what you sell—or to help them see it.

As you make your way through this chapter, I’ll insist that you do more than just read passively. You’ll go through a series of exercises that require writing a number of statements and phrases that you’ll plug into the Smart Call process later. These exercises will provide the foundation for what you will say on your calls. So go grab a pen and paper; I’ll wait.

Understanding Your Prospects and Why They Might Buy from You

A major reason that so many new products fail is that companies create the product because they think it is a great idea. They do this instead of following the tried-and-true formula: Find a need and fill it.

Salespeople similarly fail because they try to sell what they think is cool, as opposed to understanding the prospects they are talking to and what they might want. To begin creating your Possible Value Propositions, we must first enter the worlds and minds of the people we call.

There was a very good show on NBC a few years ago called Boomtown that actually caused people to think. (That’s probably why it got canceled after a season.) The show’s premise was to examine one particular crime from a variety of viewpoints. For example, viewers might watch what appears to be a bank robber running from the scene of the crime. But as it turned out, when you heard the story told from the perspective of other people at the scene, various individuals had quite diverse slants on what actually occurred; even though they had all witnessed the same event.

What does this have to do with sales? As salespeople, we have opinions and feelings about why people should buy from us. However, our prospects might—and often do—have quite different thoughts and feelings. And again, what matters most? That’s right: what they think.

You are not your customer. What you want, or the reasons you—or your marketing department—think someone should buy do not matter.

All right, I think you’re ready now. Have that pen and paper? Let’s get started with an exercise.

Picture all of the people involved in the decisions to buy or who influence the decision to buy what you sell. List them by what defines them. For example:

Ask yourself the following questions and write out the answers for each person you’ve listed. (And don’t freak out if you don’t have all of the answers. As you talk to more prospects and customers, you’ll have the opportunity to actually ask them and fill in any missing information.)

What Does Their Daily World Look Like?

Would a visit to your customers tell if they worked in a cubicle farm with hundreds of others or if they operate from whatever phone they pick up as they put out fires on the manufacturing floor? Is what you sell an integral component of their job, or is it just one of those tasks that needs to be done by someone, and they drew the short straw?

Putting yourself in someone else’s shoes helps you better understand her thought processes—which enhances your ability to discern and discuss what may be of value to her.

How Are They Measured in Their Jobs? How Can You, and Your Products or Services, Possibly Impact That?

Appealing to buyers’ personal needs is a secret of top sales reps—as well an often overlooked motivator. All clients have self-centered needs that they consider important within the scope of their jobs, needs that naturally affect their decisions. For example, they want to look good in their boss’s eyes, they don’t want to screw up the high-profile project their manager has given them, they need to hit their sales numbers so they get that bonus, they want to be respected among their industry peers, or they want to lessen their workload.

On the speaking and training side of my business, I’m often hired by meeting planners whose job it is to coordinate large national sales meetings for their clients—typically bigger companies. Of course, their professional objective is to pull off a successful event for their client. But I also know one of their personal motivators. After I had hit a home run with a workshop for a planner’s client, she told me, “Wow, you made me look like a hero with them! They complimented me on hiring you.” I could sense that having her ego stroked with such kudos had an impact on her beyond just the sense of a job well done. So now, when speaking with other meeting planners who are considering hiring me, I always ask, “What do you want your clients to tell you after a meeting?” Or “How can you look like a hero to your client after the meeting?” And I’ve even used it in voice mail messages and openings on Smart Calls: “. . . and other meeting planners have told me that our programs have helped them look like a hero in the eyes of their clients.” (If you’re in charge of hiring speakers/trainers for your firm/association, I can make you look like a hero, too: www.BusinessByPhone.com/hire-art/.)

What Do Buyers Typically Want as It Relates to Your Type of Products or Services?

Psychologists say that people are typically motivated by the desire to gain or by the fear of pain or loss. In this question—and the next one—we are applying these motivators to what we sell to help us understand what piques people’s interest. So, be specific when you answer. Get sensory with your descriptions. For example, a software sales rep should not say, “Clients want good customer service.” That’s vague. A better answer is “Users want their technical support calls answered the first time they call, without being put on hold or having to leave a message.” That’s easier to visualize, isn’t it? It stirs more emotion, which is what we want to do to get people to move in our direction.

Other examples include:

Right now, brainstorm and write out your own buyer wants. Put yourself in your buyers’ position, and figure out exactly what their end goal would be.

What Do Buyers Typically Want to Avoid as It Relates to Your Type of Products or Services?

This is where you define the pain factor. Social scientists tell us that people will do more to avoid pain than they will do to gain pleasure, so this could provide even stronger Possible Value Propositions for you. Here are just a few examples of how Smart Callers could help their prospects avoid pain:

You’ve probably noticed that just thinking about and writing down your answers gets you further inside your prospects’ minds and allows you to better understand their perspectives and ways of thinking—the ideal spot from which to prepare for and execute your Smart Calls.

The other benefit is that you have just crafted word-for-word phrases that you may be able to polish and plug into your voice mails and interest-generating openings. Congratulations—you have begun building your Possible Value Propositions! Let’s dig deeper into what these are and explore more ways to help define yours.

Defining Your Possible Value Propositions

You’ve probably noticed that I’ve used the term Possible Value Proposition several times. What’s up with the “possible” part, you may be wondering? Well, if you’ve been through any type of sales training, you may have been taught to sell the benefits. But there are some problems with that.

This is why I call it your Possible Value Proposition. There are other authors, trainers, and gurus who term these your unique value proposition or simply your value prop. However, I think it’s important to remember that everything we create and believe to be of value for our prospects is just that: what we think it is. And it remains this way until we find out for certain, by talking to our prospects, asking questions, listening to the answers, and then digging deeper.

Oh sure, these things have been of great value for others; they may be for most prospects and probably will be for our prospects. We’ll just need to confirm that on our calls. Using the term possible helps us not be too presumptuous, which could cause us to pitch something without asking questions first.

So—keeping all of this in mind—we’ll now examine what to avoid and then what to do when creating your Possible Value Propositions.

What to Avoid (or Things That Would Cause Your Prospect to Say, “So What?”)

I was in my car, stopped at a traffic light, when I glanced at the pickup truck next to me. It was a typical construction work vehicle. Underneath the company name, in big letters, was its motto:

Practically Perfect Vinyl Siding

Huh? I did a double take.

Would I want siding that was just practically perfect? Is there a discount if it’s just practically perfect?

I understand that maybe if you give this some thought—perhaps even referencing your Webster’s—you could argue that they have another intended meaning for “practically perfect.” But the first impression that entered my mind was that it did nothing for me. In fact, it was negative.

Too often, I run into companies whose sales reps are told to use phrases on their calls that were drafted by an advertising copywriter who has never sold anything. Sometimes they are just repeating a company motto, like We Unfold the Technology of Tomorrow, Today.

What? What on earth does that mean?

And just because something is free does not make it a benefit, either. A guy working the US Airways MasterCard booth at the Phoenix airport was standing in the middle of the concourse yelling to anyone who would listen, “Free stuff!” He apparently was giving away some type of T-shirt or stuffed animal in exchange for signing up for the credit card. I wasn’t quite sure, though, since I, like everyone else, went out of my way to avoid him and not make eye contact. The free item was not a benefit because I already had the card.

I heard a radio commercial the other day that offered a special report on preventing some physical malady and at the end implored, “Call right now! The phone call is free!” You could have offered to pay me to call, but I wouldn’t have; I wasn’t interested in the report.

What’s my point? Free is not a benefit in and of itself, but countless salespeople seem to think it is, and they use it to try to create interest. For example, “Hi, Mr. Prospect, I’m with Network Security Associates, and I’d like to offer you a free network security evaluation.” If the product, service, or thing that is the main deliverable is not desirable, it doesn’t matter if it is free.

The purpose of providing you with all of these examples is that we must clearly state some possible value for our prospects. It must answer their question: “What does this do for me?” Let’s continue and explore more ways to create your PVP.

Pain and Gain

You made a list earlier of what your prospective buyers want and what they want to avoid, relating to your type of product or service. (You did do that, didn’t you? Go back if you haven’t—this is important stuff.)

Look at those answers again. Hopefully, you and your product or service can deliver much—or all—of what you wrote regarding what prospects want and don’t want. Those are Possible Value Propositions.

You can also combine the pain and gain into one PVP. For example, a sales rep for a construction contractor could say, “We specialize in working with landlords whose properties failed building inspections and fix them so they pass.”

Here are some additional ideas for identifying more PVPs.

The Easy Way to Provide Possible Value

The radio commercial claimed, “Lose weight the easy way. No more sweaty gyms. No more starving yourself. No exercise. Simply take this pill . . .”

Yeah, right. The sad thing is that their phones probably went crazy with orders. People like to do things the easy way whenever they can.

Just notice some of the other ads that are always on TV: one wrench that does the job of an entire clumsy toolbox of them, little pads to place under your furniture and appliances so you can move them with little effort, a vegetable chopper that takes a fraction of the time of chopping with a knife, and so on.

Your e-mail inbox today probably has some pitches with this theme: Get rich quick by doing nothing more than reading e-mail, and make money in your jammies.

And who doesn’t want the easier way? Office supply company Staples has run a very successful ad campaign around the Easy Button. We all wish we had one; the reasons aren’t always the same, though. Some people are lazy. Others, however, are so motivated, busy, and overworked that simplifying some tasks will free up more time for others. Most people are somewhere in between. Whatever the case, ease is a universally attractive benefit.

Is this something you can provide? If so, define how. Fill in the following blanks:

Are You Able to Help Cut Costs?

Cutting costs is usually a strong Possible Value Proposition, since it is one way for a company to increase profits. Is this something you can affect? How do you help companies or individuals control or cut costs?

Think of how you can use any of these phrases to describe the results you provide your prospects and customers.

How Are You Different?

Another way to strengthen your Possible Value Proposition is to separate yourself from the masses. Be different. Kind of like the Two Hip Chicks.

Let me explain.

While driving into my suburban neighborhood, I paid little attention to the collection of hand-drawn and Home Depot–purchased signs cluttering the street corner, all of which screamed out: GARAGE SALE! However, one grabbed my eye:

Now, I’m not a rummage sale kind of guy; but I went out of my way and turned down the street to see what this was all about. Not sure of what to expect, I drove by the house. It pretty much looked the same as the other garage sales I passed along the way, with one exception:

The Hip Chicks set themselves apart from the masses. They added a little emotion and psychology to the mix. After all, who wouldn’t want used stuff that is hip and cool, as opposed to someone’s junk that will be thrown away if they don’t sell it?

So, what makes you different? What sets you and your company apart? What are the advantages you have over your competition?

Let’s face it: Lots of companies sell exactly the same thing. Yet some manage to thrive while others struggle or go out of business. The difference maker is—well, the difference.

If you think you can’t do this because you feel you sell a commodity, you are probably right. Your cause will be hopeless. That’s because you must first believe in the difference that you offer, whether it’s price, quality, or service.

If we can differentiate a dead chicken, you can differentiate anything.

—Frank Perdue, founder of Perdue Farms

I heard a great differential advantage on a radio commercial: “There are lots of services you could pick from, but at One-Hour Heating and Air, if we’re not on time, you don’t pay a dime.”

I thought Walmart’s old value statement, “Always Low Prices. Always,” was better than the new one: “Save Money. Live Better.” They never asked me.

There’s a local computer company that runs a great ad differentiating itself from the chain electronics retailers by making fun of how technical and impersonal the big-box boys are with customers. Their ads end with this differentiating line: “Bottom line, we will be cheaper, faster, and more polite than the computer chain stores.”

Here’s an example of a sales rep trying to create value: “Hi, Ms. Prospect, I’m Joe Seller with Contractor’s Supply. We sell drywall supplies, and I’d like to tell you what we sell and see if we could become one of your suppliers.”

Yawn. He’s basically saying that he does the same thing as every other drywall supplier. Worse, his comments are likely to incite resistance, since he’s suggesting that he wants to sell something.

Here’s a much better version that differentiates the caller:

Hi, Ms. Prospect, I’m Joe Seller with Contractor’s Supply. In talking with Jean in your office, I understand that your installers now spend quite a bit of time leaving jobs and running to your supplier to pick up materials when they need something. What sets us apart is that we have trucks out that offer delivery within an hour when contractors need something. I’d like to ask a few questions to see if what we offer might be of value to you.

That was a Possible Value Statement actually plugged into the interest-creating opening. We will cover how to do that in depth later.

Here are a couple of others:

Jane, I’m Pat Sellar with Info Industries. Like many people who are probably now calling you, I saw the news about how your network was compromised by a cyberattack. We specialize in helping companies protect their customer information from theft or viral attack, and what sets us apart is . . .

Allison, I’m A. J. Scott with Murano Consulting. My compliments on your recent article about the state of the recruiting business. We have worked with a number of search firms in helping their recruiters cut down on the number of days it takes to fill their positions. I know you might get a lot of calls like this as a result of the article, but what we do differently is . . .

Now it’s time for you to define your own differential advantages. Brainstorm and simply fill in the blanks:

The Value You Have Already Provided for Others

Some of your strongest, most interesting, and impactful PVPs will simply describe what you have already done for your other customers. These are the specific results your customers have realized.

For the following exercise, I want you to research your 20 biggest sales. Also include the customers who have been buying from you the longest. You are looking for the answers to this simple question: What specific, tangible, and measurable results did they realize by being your customer?

This will provide you with more Possible Value Propositions. For example:

We have helped other pediatric dentists cut their cost of new patient acquisition by an average of 50 percent, while increasing their number of new patients by 25 percent within six months.

We’ve allowed publishing clients that were using 5 to 10 different programs to manage the various aspects of their online marketing and sales to replace all of their programs with just one, cutting their software costs, saving hours of time, and in some cases, doubling their print and ebook sales.

Recruiters who use our career postings tell us that the candidates they attract are better qualified, meaning they save hours per week by not having to deal with applicants who would never be considered.

Now I know there are some people reading this—not you, of course—who aren’t quite sure why people bought from them, or what the results were afterward. Not a problem—just ask them. Call your customers and say, “Pam, we appreciate your business and want to be sure that we continue to give you everything you want and expect from us. To that end, I’d like to ask a few questions. Please tell me, what were some of the main reasons you bought from us initially? And what specific results have you received from working with us?”

Listen to their responses, and then dig deeper. Prompt them to attach numbers to their answers. Get dollar amounts: The more specific the information, the better.

In her e-book Developing Strong Value Propositions, author Jill Konrath, who helps sales pros sell to big companies, said, “I had lunch with the president of a half-billion-dollar division of a major corporation. She told me that if someone contacted her and said he could reduce waste by just 1 percent, she would meet with him immediately. Why? Because she knew exactly how much her company spent on waste—and it was a lot of money. Every penny she saved would go right to the bottom line.”

I recommend that you get a copy of Jill’s free e-book. It’s one of the best, most comprehensive resources I’ve seen on coming up with value propositions. You can download it at www.jillkonrath.com/value-proposition-kit/ and get a few other valuable goodies.

Do You Help Inadequacy?

Here’s an especially powerful possible buying motivator: inadequacy.

Think about all the ads out there for products and services that help with conditions like hair loss, being overweight, body parts too large or too small, and personal appearance deficiencies of any other type. One of the longest-running magazine classified ads is for shoe lifts to make men taller.

Does your product or service affect inadequacy in any way? For example—and recalling what we covered earlier about helping your buyers personally—can you help any of your buyers improve their status within their company or industry? Are they fed up with getting smacked around by the competition and losing out when they reply to requests for proposals? Do their products get negative reviews in the online forums?

I often hear from managers whose sales reps are fearful of picking up the phone to prospect. When they finally do call, they lack confidence and consequently get blown off their calls—setting off the chain reaction of poor morale and call avoidance. One of my PVPs is “I have helped sales reps who previously were uncomfortable with and lacked confidence in prospecting to actually enjoy the process, and double their number of new accounts.”

Define if and how inadequacy might be felt by your buyers—and let them know exactly how the results of your product or service can fix it.

Value Is Not the Same for Everyone

A final thought on understanding your prospects and defining value: Even though they may be employed by the same company, everyone involved in your buying process probably does not define value in the same way.

If you were at a party, for instance, would you talk to the third-grade daughter of the host the same way you would speak with a college professor in attendance? Of course not! So let’s put this in perspective: Do you sell the same way to the different types of buyers of your products or services? If so, that’s like sending an identical direct mail piece to every prospect, hoping it touches on something they all are interested in.

A purchasing agent has dissimilar needs from a product or service user. A twenty-something MBA fastracking to his next promotion views purchases differently than a fiftyish middle manager going through the motions, avoiding risks, and flying under the radar until retirement. The guy who maintains the grass outside the office has a different perspective from the person looking out at it from her top-floor corner office.

Again, the key element is what you think about before your call. Clearly, if you’re only thinking sell, you’re sorely misguided. The correct mind-set is Who am I talking to, and what might they want?

As you identify the different levels within an organization you might speak with—or at least those who are affected by what you sell—be sure you have clarified the PVPs for each. For example:

You have now worked to define what possible value you might be able to provide for your prospects, and you are in a Them frame of mind. We now will work on making our calls Smart.

Smart Calling Action Steps

What else will you commit to do as a result of this chapter?