Your value prop is holding you back.

I want to share something I learned leading PMM at Vidyard and BlackBerry. It's something that all founders, marketers, and sales leaders need to hear: Defining a value proposition statement is probably holding you back. Here’s why: A value prop is a static statement. A ‘proposition’ by definition is a statement that is either true or false. So it’s a 50/50 shot (at best). Instead of a value prop, what you need is to have a value conversation that allows you to mold how you communicate your value to what a prospect really cares about. What’s a value conversation? It’s a two-way dialogue instead of a one-way pitch. We’ve all been victims of the one-way pitch. Someone rattling off their value prop. “Acme product is a that helps to by ”. Let’s take a possible value proposition my wife could use as a dog trainer: “I’m a behaviour-based dog trainer who helps first-time dog owners strengthen their relationship with their dog by using dog psychology.” It’s not a bad value prop in the traditional sense. It’s specific. It’s differentiated. It focuses on outcomes. But…. If the prospect isn’t familiar with “behaviour-based training”, or if strengthening the relationship with their dog isn’t top of mind or they don’t know they need “dog psychology”, Liz (my wife) is out of luck. So how is a value conversation different? “Every year I work with over 100 first-time dog owners. Typically, I find they struggle with 1 of 3 things: 1. They feel like their dog doesn’t respect them 2. They don’t enjoy their walks because of pulling on leash 3. Their dog isn’t social with other dogs Does any of this sound familiar to you?” Why is this better? It establishes credibility right off the bat: “every year I work with over 100 first-time dog owners” It demonstrates expertise with understanding this market: “I find they struggle with one of 3 things” It invites a conversation where the client can self-identity where they need help: “does any of this sound familiar to you”. Best of all it 3X’s the likelihood that Liz is able to connect with a top priority for that dog owner. And guess what? Each of these paths still leads to the same destination: Behavior-based training, rooted in dog psychology, that strengthens the relationship between dog and owner. So why don’t more companies (and dog trainers) use this approach? It takes a different set of skills. You need to identify and validate the strategic priorities you’ll offer up or else you’ll look out of touch and lose credibility. Next, map those strategic priorities to what your product does in a way that leads prospects to you. Then learn how to listen, adapt and adjust the way you communicate your value on the fly. Once you master value conversations, it changes everything. It's your new language for prospecting, demos, sales, onboarding, content creation, and building your product roadmap. I’m working on building a course to help master this step-by-step. If this resonated with you, I'd appreciate it if you could take 3-mins to complete this survey to help me assess course-market fit: https://maven.com/forms/86af5d