When & How To Offer Value Propositions

Throwing out value without knowing that it will address a Value Opportunity of your customer is uneconomical. There's no reason for a person to buy something unless it satisfies a need. If the customer can see exactly how your products/services can help them, they will be much more likely to buy.

When To Offer Value Propositions
You should initially offer value at the following times: (This does not include offering additional value to build acceptance. We'll cover that in a later posting.)
1. During probing for understanding, once you are confident the Value Proposition will effectively address their Value Opportunity. Delivering customer-specific Value Propositions will build acceptance and lead to closing on the sale.
2. To get the attention of a non-responsive customer if they are trying to get rid of you. You must make an educated guess what value will match their needs based on your precall plan.
3. Part of soliciting feedback to show you're listening to their needs.

How To Offer Value Propositions
Reactive - these are delivered during the call. You react to what they say with the pitches and proofs you know.
1. Use QA (Question/Answer) to gather as much information as possible about the different needs they have that legitimately match up to the services we provide. Do not promise what we cannot deliver, but make sure you uncover all of the ways we can help.
2. Use their excitement level as a way to gauge which needs are of higher priority. They may also tell you their priorities.

Active note-taking (and accurate CRM entries) are crucial to ensure you don't miss anything. Don't just "vomit value." Value should be customer-specific to ensure that you are always adding to their acceptance. What is valuable to one prospect may not matter to another.

Proactive - these are delivered offline, not during the call. You evaluate their Value Opportunities and develop creative Value Propositions and/or creative ways to communicate with them. Here are some ways to offer value if you can't get a meeting with the DM:
1. Email - but don't get lulled into doing everything via email
2. Fax or Direct Mail - remember when we used to do this all the time? Well fewer people are faxing or sending direct mail pieces nowadays, so your message will stand out (if it's a good one). Don't just send your marketing materials; always, always, always include a personal note.
3. Through social media - do they have a Facebook page, Twitter account, or LinkedIn listing?
4. Call before or after hours (when the gatekeeper isn't in)
5. Send them a greeting card - you can find people's birthdays on many social media outlets
6. Send them a personal item - if they like jellybeans, drop off a bag for them with a note attached.
7. Send their staff a gift - we just sent a customer $1 scratch-off lottery tickets for their staff and it was a real hit
8. Send them a testimonial letter - this can work especially well when the testimonial is from a competitor of theirs
9. Join groups they are a member of - like the Erie Sales Club!

The Erie Sales Club is a joint effort of three leading local businesses: Jameson Publishing, Marsha Marsh Real Estate Services, and VertMarkets.

How To Achieve 377% Sales Growth

When you see "377% sales growth," you could first think it's a typo. Achieving 37% growth is commendable and plausible, 77% is astounding, but 377%? It's reality for Jason Caras (pictured), co-CEO at IT Authorities in Tampa, FL, who we had the pleasure of talking to last week during a one-hour webinar. Here are excerpts of an article on IT Authorities written by webinar co-host Gennifer Biggs of Jameson Publishing:

When it comes to increasing revenues, improving sales, and growing your business, there is a lot of advice to be had. Books, webinars, seminars — you name it. But one fast-growing company has another suggestion. Try changing your life, and those of your employees, for the better, and then see what happens.

Jason Caras, who is co-CEO of IT Authorities, has challenged himself, his co-CEO Jason Pollner, and his 30 employees to live a different kind of life, what he calls the “high performance” life. Caras started his journey years ago as a young man who initially struggled with personal success, but eventually found that living life well — as in being respectful of others and himself, and with higher personal expectations than others — was the path for his success. “Leadership success starts when you ask yourself, ‘What am I becoming’ versus ‘What am I getting’?’ says Caras.

That realization came after studying such leadership gurus as Jim Rohn and Wayne Dyer. Those teachings led to Caras’ business philosophy, which is rooted in two main concepts: CANI (Constant And Never-ending Improvement) and the 212-Degree Concept. CANI is based in Kaizen, a Japanese management philosophy that challenges each person to arrive at work (or simple to face) each day with the powerful intention of being better than the day before. The 212-Degree Concept focuses on the idea that one extra degree separates the good from great, just as one degree separates hot water from boiling water.

For IT Authorities, that has translated into unbelievable success. “I’ve just found that when you are willing to strive for constant improvement, to push a little bit farther, walk with your shoulders back and head high because you are doing your very best, it translates into success,” explains Caras. “When you are invested in your own success, you tend to be more invested in your company’s success.” To prove that point, consider this: The company, founded in 2006, has nearly 100% retention of employees, which translates directly to happy customers as well. IT Authorities was recognized as the #1 Company to Work for in Florida by Florida Trend Magazine and can be found of the Best Places to Work in Tampa Bay list produced by the Tampa Bay Business Journal. IT Authorities is ranked 801 on the Inc. Magazine 5000 Fastest Growing Companies in America list with a three-year growth rate of 377%.

Think that number is something you’d like to see in your own business? Well, Caras says those leaders interested in inspiring success should start at home. “You must start with yourself, you cannot ask others to buy in to a philosophy you are not living,” he says. Then, be ready to hold yourself to the same standards, because Caras believes firmly in 360-degree leadership in a successful business. “IT Authorities is a place where leadership is required regardless of what position you hold,” he says.

Caras stresses that leaders need to understand that it is not easy to lead others down the path to a high-performance life. Be ready to challenge potential hires about their ability to come to work every day ready to inspire and be inspired by your coworkers. Also be ready to fire anyone that isn’t willing to be part of the team. “We tell people are very slow to hire, and very quick to fire,” says Caras. “It is easy for someone to have on their game face but then sometimes you are just wrong, and they do not bring anything to the workplace. They need to go and quickly.”

Perhaps one reason Caras’ philosophy resounds with me is that our parent company, Jameson Publishing, has a similar culture. For example, our culture is based on a document called “What We Stand For.” On that list are six statements: Continuous Self-Improvement, Achieve Desired Outcomes, Know Our Truths, Work Hard & Work Smart, High Character Behavior, and We Will Not Be Great By What We Accomplish, But Rather By What We Help Others Accomplish. Those values share daily interactions between the team, our customers, those we work with as a magazine, and more. Perhaps most important is that no one person in our company — from our owners to our president to the receptionist — is exempt, and everyone is encouraged to participate in 360-degree annual reviews and challenge any action taken by the company. What that creates, as Caras has learned, is a workplace excited about performing as well as it can, every day, and slowly but surely working to improve on that performance. Employees are engaged, happy, enthusiastic, and creative — all of which moves the company toward success.

To view Caras' free one-hour webinar, just click here.

The Erie Sales Club is a joint effort of three leading local businesses: Jameson Publishing, Marsha Marsh Real Estate Services, and VertMarkets.

Taking Care of People

Here's an email about customer service that I sent to the Jameson Publishing staff last week. It sparked some interesting feedback from one of my co-workers (a Sales Manager) and one of our customers:

Earlier tonight, I stopped by the Wine & Spirits Shop on Asbury Road to make a purchase (it was for a friend –- I swear it’s a gift for a friend!). I’m ignorant about wine, so I could have used some help from the staff. But when I walked in, the two employees at the store didn’t say one word to me – not “Hi” or “Can I help you?” Heck, they didn’t even make eye contact with me, and I was the only customer in the store.

So for 7 minutes I walked up and down the aisles lost in a sea of oddly shaped glass bottles. A third employee came out of the back, but she didn’t offer me help either. They talked to each other for a minute, and then the person at the counter went back to leaning on her elbows. When I cashed out, I wanted to see if the cashier would at least smile at me. Didn’t happen. She scanned the bottles, put them into bags, and then dryly told me the total. I gave her my credit card, she swiped it, and then slid the receipt to me to be signed. When the transaction was complete, I said, “Thanks very much!” to which she replied, “Mmm-hmm.”

Compare that level of customer service with a story Karen Burkett (Jameson's Audience Development Manager who sits near our office entrance) told me the other day. I was in our lobby waiting to talk with Mindy Fadden (a Jameson co-worker), so I plopped myself into one of our comfy brown chairs there. Two co-workers walked by and jokingly wished me good luck with my job interview that day. Karen told me that when a guest visits our office and waits in the lobby, everyone says hi to them and most everyone checks to make sure they’re being taken care of. They do that even with Karen sitting at the front desk. We want to be 100% sure people are being taken care of.

Contrast that with my visit to the State Store where I think I’d have to start knocking bottles off the shelf to get someone’s attention. The point I’m trying to make is this: We have done a GREAT job taking care of people – our guests, our customers, and each other. Let’s keep alive our special spirit of helping others accomplish their goals. Thanks for everything you do!

P.S. I also learned a valuable lesson tonight: Spend more time at work and less time at the liquor store …

I received this response from one of Jameson's Sales Managers:
It seems like everywhere I check out I’m the one saying “Thank you” and I get “Mmm-hmm”. I’m thanking them for taking my money and I get “Mmm-hmm”. I started this past weekend to say “you’re welcome” even without getting a “thank you”. It raises some eyebrows and confusion of why I’m saying “you’re welcome”. My way of still being polite, treating others as I’d like to be treated, and maybe someone I say that to will ask themselves why I’m telling them you’re welcome.

The best was this past weekend at the McDonald’s on Buffalo Road when the Manager didn’t tell me “Thank You”. I told her you’re welcome but she was too busy telling one of her employees how they took too long to clean the dining area. I politely pulled out a $20 bill in front of her, called the lady over she was embarrassing in front of the other employees and handed it to her. I explained that she provided me and my son the best service I’d ever had and I’d send a note into McDonald’s Corp telling them she should be employee of the month. The lady was probably in her 60’s, had the dining room spotless, brought extra napkins over to my son, was talking to the other patrons, but getting her job done at the same time. I’m sure she’s not McDonald’s ideal employee, but as I explained in the e-mail I sent to McDonald’s corp I will still go back to that McDonald’s hoping I get that same great service from the lady cleaning their floors and not the service from the over paid manager behind the counter. This might have been the best $20 I have ever spent. The manager went into back up mode in front of everyone and kept trying to apologize. I ignored her and thanked the little old lady cleaning the floors and the other workers for the great service they gave us.

I shared mine and the Sales Manager's story with some of our customers who I'm close with. Here's what one of them, a CEO in the Washington D.C. area, wrote to me:
Bravo ... and thank you! The following is an email I just sent to everyone in our company. I believe your email will get more exposure than you imagined, as it’s a simple and wonderful expression of the courtesy and empathy we should show to all --

I received this from Jim Roddy, he’s the President of Jameson Publishing –- they publish Business Solutions Magazine. A “Please” and “Thank You” go a long way to make our daily interactions with strangers, no matter where we meet them, more pleasant for all.

I try to always go out of my way to use these two simple expressions with the folks I interact with on a daily basis. I recently took my daughter shopping at our local Giant and two employees went out of their way to approach us and say “Thank you for coming to our store, Bill”. All because I always say “Please” and “Thank You” when these folks helped me at check out. My guess is that most people don’t.

When we do it enriches the person who is sometimes performing what some consider a thankless task and their reaction makes our day more pleasant, too.

So “Please” take time to read the following and my “Thank You” for your individual contributions towards our company’s success. It means a lot, not just to me, but everyone in our company.

-- Jim Roddy

The Erie Sales Club is a joint effort of three leading local businesses: Jameson Publishing, Marsha Marsh Real Estate Services, and VertMarkets.

Aligning Your Value Proposition: Shotgun Approach vs. Rifle Approach

We've talked previously about identifying Value Opportunities (VOs) and getting to the decision maker. Let's talk today about how to align your Value Proposition(s) with their VOs.

We see too often that a prospect presents a VO and we rush to throw out our Value Proposition(s). The Value Proposition is often mismatched because we do not fully understand the VO first. This does not build acceptance, it can create skepticism and/or indifference, and you can lose credibility when you're wrong in this guessing game. Also, trying to align value too soon is not consultative. You become just another pushy salesperson trying to pitch them something.

There are two approaches to aligning your Value Propositions:
1. Shotgun Approach: Providing value that you THINK is valuable. Maybe the value is important and addresses a Value Opportunity, or maybe it doesn't. It it unlikely the Value Proposition will address the VO.
2. Rifle Approach: Providing value to the prospect that you KNOW is valuable to them. By fully understanding the VO, you know (vs. you guess) the Value Proposition you offer will address the VO.
Obviously the Rifle Approach is the only acceptable method.

If executed properly using the Rifle Approach, eventually you transition from how you could possibly be helping them to how you will be helping them. This can lead to them closing themselves. All of this is rooted in taking the time to ask the right questions. You cannot simply pull VOs from a list, and every customer will have different VOs.

The Erie Sales Club is a joint effort of three leading local businesses: Jameson Publishing, Marsha Marsh Real Estate Services, and VertMarkets.