Value Proposition - The new language of differentiated selling

It seems everyone these days is talking about their company's "value proposition", but few organizations have truly changed their selling approach or language to reflect a new, differentiated selling model.

It was E.K. Strong in the early 20th century that brought us Feature/Benefit selling. And while Mr. Strong was absolutely correct, features are without context until you equate them to a benefit that's meaningful to a prospective buyer, Feature/Benefit selling doesn't fully represent the convolution of the complex selling environment or product offering.

It is my belief that the Value Proposition sufficiently represents all of the significant selling steps in a relatively simple selling language that differentiates product and company offerings. A Value Proposition is a construct. Its made up of three key elements; feature/function/benefits of the solution, favorable points of differentiation, and lastly the resonating value.

Feature/Function Benefits (FFB)

- These are what we have come to rely on as professional salespeople when asked about our product or service offering. These are the characteristics of the offering, the differentiated features and functions but always couched in a context of benefits relevant to our prospective client.

Favorable Points of Differentiation

- These statements and examples represent the FFBs in the hands of our organization. What do we do DIFFERENTLY with the FFBs versus our competitors? How does our frame of reference and experience related to the deployment or integration of these solutions differ from our competitors?

Resonating Value

- What are the quantifiable benefits our clients have received as a result of the FFBs, in the care and operation of our company. What were the efficiency gains, effectiveness improvements, dollar savings, etc.?

So, the next time someone asks you for your value proposition, remember to ask yourself one important question: "Did I build a construct that differentiated my organization?"