More Clients - the Online Marketing Newsletter
for Independent Professionals
from Action Plan Marketing
and Robert MiddletonIn This Week's Issue: Where do you start if you want to sell your professional services to big companies?
Your Value Proposition
Next week I'm going to be hosting a TeleSeminar on "Selling to Big Companies" with sales InfoGuru Jill Konrath, so I wanted to warm you up with some very important ideas for demanding attention and getting your foot in the door.
In preparing the TeleSeminar with Jill last week she gave me an interesting tidbit of information. She told me that the average executive buyer (the decision maker you need to get through to) has over 59 hours of work sitting on his desk at any given time!
And then he or she gets your call...
You tell this buyer that you have a new HR services company and that you'd like to come in and tell them about it. Or you you let them know that you are an executive coach and you'd like to send them some information to read.
Put yourself in the buyer's shoes and ask yourself what you'd do. Would you respond enthusiastically with, "Oh, that's wonderful! Come on over and I'll just put this 59 hours worth of work aside and clear an hour or two on my schedule!"
Not likely. Is it any wonder most Independent Professionals completely give up on trying to approach buyers?
In our TeleSeminar Jill and I are going to get into several strategies and techniques to get you noticed and to get your foot in the door, but in this issue of More Clients I'm going to cover just one: The Value Proposition.
Your Value Proposition, or as I usually call it, your Core Marketing Message, is still misunderstood by most Independent Professionals. It's not just a tagline, sound bite or even an "Audio Logo." It goes way beyond that.
It really is the expression of the essence of your business. It's the foundation of all your marketing messages. It's what makes you stand out and be memorable in an overcrowded marketplace of look-alikes. And it always is more about your clients and their businesses than it is about you and your business.
A great Value Proposition has several elements that, combined together, pack a powerful marketing punch that's hard to ignore. These elements include the following:
1. Your ideal target client - Who exactly are your services designed for? It certainly just can't be just "medium or large companies." You need to zero in on much more specifically. What industry, department, technology, values?2. Their problems or challenges - What are they struggling with? What's not working for them? What opportunities are coming up that they may not be meeting successfully? What keeps them up at night? You need to know this in your head, heart and gut.
3. The solutions or results - Where do they want to go? What do they aspire to? What are they excited about and committed to? After they've solved their problems, where are they going to put their attention and resources?
4. The unique angle - What have you got that nobody else has? And how is this an advantage to your clients? What can you do faster, better, smarter than every other Independent Professional out there? You need to know this with a high degree of certainty or you'll just blend in with everyone else.
When you approach a buyer, whether through a call, an email, an article, or your web content, this Value Proposition needs to pop out vividly and urgently, letting them know you are worth paying attention to.
If you are going to express your Value Proposition verbally, you can usually do it in two well-structured sentences. These statements can be used in a wide variety of situations, from meeting someone at a networking event to calling a big company prospect on the phone.
Audio Logo: We work with companies who have large, widely diverse teams of workers and who are frustrated with high attrition rates and reduced productivity. (target market plus problem)
Follow-Up: Our clients are interested in both cutting costs and increasing retention and appreciate that our "guaranteed worker program" results in the very best workers that stay 295% longer than the industry average. (solution and uniqueness)
If you can develop a concise Value Proposition that is more than just words but is something you can really deliver on, you will find it much easier to get the attention and interest of buyers in big companies.
More on "Your Value Proposition" in Marketing Flashes below.
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Want to Sell Your Services to Big Companies?
Once you've developed your Value Proposition as your foundation, where do you go from there? How do you develop an approach campaign, do pre-call research, send the right information and use appropriate sales techniques that will get you an appointment with a qualified buyer?
I'll be interviewing Jill Konrath, the expert on "Selling to Big Companies" who will guide you through a step-by-step process to market and sell your professional services to the big guys.
The TeleSeminar will be on Tuesday, September 21 at 2 pm Pacific and you can pre-order the CD or transcript if you're not able to attend. The fee? $25 for either the TeleSeminar or CD. Just click below for details, to reserve your space or to order:
http://www.actionplan.com/bigcos.htmlNew Marketing Action Group is Forming in One Month
The Marketing Action Groups are my intensive group programs that take you step-by-step through the marketing process. We start in mid October with the next six-month group.
We'll be doing one session a month in October, November and December and working on four areas: Purpose/Vision/Goals, Marketing Message, Marketing Materials and Marketing Plan.
In mid-January we'll start to meet weekly and get into the nitty gritty of implementing your marketing plans. We'll do 12 weekly sessions through the end of March.
If you have taken your marketing as far as you feel you can take it and feel you need some hands-on support and inspiration, this might be the program for you.
We have only seven spaces left open in the Thursday Group. To learn about how the groups are structured (including dates, price, etc.) click on the link below and you can apply online.
http://www.actionplan.com/actiongroup.htmlThe InfoGuru Marketing Manual is the place to start
For new subscribers and for those who have been holding out for months, if you want to establish a solid foundation for attracting clients, the place to start is the comprehensive InfoGuru Marketing Manual.
The manual leads you through step-by-step action plans, provides audio guidance on several key marketing topics and even includes a dynamic discussion group to answer any question you might have about marketing your services.
Learn more and order at this link:
http://www.actionplan.com/infoguru.html~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Marketing Flashes on "Your Value Proposition"
Here are some of the biggest mistakes I see made in developing a Value Proposition.
* Thinking that it's not important - You've go to make this a *Big Deal* because it's really the key to it all. Sure it sounds complex and abstract. But the turning point in your business is likely to come when you "see the light" and start "preaching your message."
* Not researching and testing - It's not going to come to you in two minutes (unless you ar very lucky). It usually takes a fair amount of research, brainstorming, testing it on clients and associates before it really clicks and you know you have something that works.
* Not truly differentiating - Often a Value Proposition only gets as far as the target market and the problem. That's good but it can be too generic. Only when you get into your solution and your uniqueness will you really stand out and be noticed.
* Not having enough depth - A Value Proposition needs to go way beyond those four points and two statements outlined above. It needs to permeate into every nook and cranny of your marketing. Every expression of your business, large or small, needs to reek of your Value Proposition.
* Not having stories - Stories are the most persuasive marketing tools you can use. Take your Value Proposition as the central theme around which you'll build your case studies and other stories that make a compelling and emotional case for your services.
Until next week, all the best,
Robert Middleton
ACTION PLAN MARKETING
Helping Independent Professionals Attract More Clients~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
210 Riverside Drive
Boulder Creek, CA 95006
831-338-7790© 2004 Robert Middleton, All rights reserved. You are free to use material from the More Clients eZine in whole or in part, as long as you include complete attribution, including live web site link. Please also notify me where the material will appear. The attribution should read:
"By Robert Middleton of Action Plan Marketing. Please visit Robert's web site at http://www.actionplan.com for additional marketing articles and resources on marketing for professional service businesses."
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