If they tell you its not about the money, they are lying.
B2B customers buy from you for only one reason — value. The value in all its forms translates to money. Revenue, profit, productivity, customer service, speed to market, cost reduction, brand awareness, risk reduction, etc., and they all translate to money for the organization. Can most customers measure the impact of all the elements I mentioned before they buy? Most customers cannot. If you present and position your solution to deliver more value than the competition, or what the customer could do themselves, you’ll likely win the deal.
If you are unable to communicate your value to your customers, why should customers place value in what you offer?
If you are unable to tell customers why they should choose you and why they should pay what you are asking, why would they?
Marketing owns the responsibility
Product marketing (or marketing) holds the responsibility for developing the Customer Value Proposition (CVP) for each product or solution.
The CVP needs to be socialized with all functions that interact with customers. In some organizations, the CVP needs to be socialized from the C-suite on down, including sales, sales operations, sales enablement, pre-sales, training, learning & development, marketing, marketing agencies, and so on.
The CVP cannot be developed in a marketing vacuum, so it needs to be shared with other stakeholders for validation and refinement.
Elements of a Customer Value Proposition
The Customer Value Proposition starts from the customer’s point of view, and includes:
- Promise — What benefits do we get from your product and your company?
- Differentiation — How is your product or company better than alternatives?
- Support — Why should we believe your claims?
- Effort — What do we need to do to make your products useful or to do business with you?
- Risk — What could go wrong with your product?
- Customer Context — What customers & scenarios is your offering best designed for?
Do you have Customer Value Propositions in your company?
Customer Value Propositions are not posted publicly, and you won’t find them hanging in the cafeteria or break room. They can’t be in the heads of your marketing and sales teams. Customer Value Propositions are formal documents, typically accompanied by a Messaging Canvas to help the organization communicate the Customer Value Proposition.
If you ask around and formal Customer Value Propositions don’t exist, you probably should consider developing them, fast.