unique value proposition Archives - B2B Marketing Blog

Seven Ways to Use Your UVP and Brand Messaging

November 9, 2021 by Tom Pick

Your unique value proposition (UVP) may be the most important collection of words you ever write as a marketing professional.

This one- or two-sentence statement that concisely describes what you do, who you do it for, and why you are special, is in many cases the vital first impression about your brand or product.

Image credit: Noah Näf on Unsplash

It frequently determines whether your prospective customer wants decides to stick around and learn more, or cross you off the list.

To be effective, your UVP has to address a real problem with a compelling solution. But it also needs to be used in the right way, and in the right places. Here’s how to craft an impactful UVP, and seven places to use it once you’ve honed and sharpened it.
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How to Create and Utilize Your Small Business’s Mission Statement

September 17, 2020 by Guest Author

Guest post by Lexie Lu.

A mission statement tells customers why your business exists and what you care most about. It sets you apart from competitors, ties into your story, and gives purpose to your day-to-day operations.

How to write a small business mission statement

Image credit: David Iskander on Unsplash

According to the Small Business Administration (SBA), there are approximately 31.7 million small businesses in the United States. While only a few are your competitors, you still have to grab the attention of a limited pool of prospective customers. Conveying your objective as a brand is one way of setting yourself apart.

Here are six key steps you can take to create and utilize your small business’s mission statement.
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The Top 10 B2B Digital Marketing Strategies for 2020

November 5, 2019 by Tom Pick

Guest post by Austin Cline.

The past two decades have brought disruptive technological change and radically reshaped B2B marketing practices.

Traditional B2B marketing strategies relied heavily on direct and outbound methods. Cold calls, trade shows, direct mail, and print ads were the primary forms of marketing. Getting your message in front of the right prospects was often difficult, time-consuming, and expensive.

The spread of social media and blogging, radically faster Internet speeds, online video, the rise of influencers, and reliance on mobile devices continues to change the way companies market their products and services.

The expanded range of marketing platforms and pace of change require B2B companies to continually re-examine their strategies.

While cold calling and print media remain useful, and live event marketing remains effective at every stage of the sales funnel, digital channels have surpassed traditional methods in terms of importance, reach, and budget allocation.

Here are 10 B2B digital marketing strategies to help maintain a competitive edge.
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5 Questions Every Business Website Must Answer

August 8, 2011 by Tom Pick

Revised September 10, 2020

Twitter, YouTube videos, text messaging…there’s no question attention spans are short. Everyone is busy, asked constantly to “do more with less,” including most critically their time. To connect with buyers in this environment, your business website needs to provide them with the information they need—quickly and concisely.

By the time a buyer reaches your site, he or she has likely done the basic research. The problem is defined, the solution set narrowed, and now it’s time to choose between competing vendors. In order to make the short list, and ideally to win the business, your site needs to quickly answer five critical questions.

1. Who are you? Unless your brand is a household name, at least within your industry, this is a critical element. Don’t waste your “About” page company history and trivia—make it “sell” your company. [Read more…]

Web Wise on the Sales Side

May 10, 2010 by Tom Pick

Your company website can serve as far more than a marketing and PR vehicle—it should be a genuine sales tool as well.

Guest post by Ken Thoreson, recognized sales management thought leader and managing director of the Acumen Management Group Ltd., a North American consulting organization focused on improving sales management functions within growing and transitional organizations. You can reach him at ken@acumenmgmt.com, through his website at AcumenManagement.com, or visit his blog at YourSalesManagementGuru.com.

A company’s sales and marketing teams should always work together, communicating frequently to make sure their messages are aligned. However, while many companies have invested significantly in websites that serve the marketing function of promoting a unique value proposition, many miss the sales side of the equation—that is, proving that messaging to prospective customers.

For that reason, your salespeople should take prospects to visit your company’s website at a suitable time in the sales process. This exercise is best done in a face-to-face sales call. In the case of a remote sales team, you could substitute a video tour of your offices or use client case studies or video testimonials that reinforce your intended messaging. The new Flip Cameras are great tools to use to interview clients at trade shows, in their offices or at your own office, and the videos are easy to upload to your website.

The important action is for your salesperson to “walk” through your website pointing out key benefits of your offering, and depending upon your value proposition, showing proof. For example, if you sell your “long term commitment to your clients,” then show two or three videos or testimonials of clients that have been using your services for the past 10 years. If you sell commitment to a vertical market, then show your various associations and Industry Board of Advisors. If you are a low-cost provider, then perhaps an ROI analysis might be of value.

An Interactive Experience

In working with an Acumen Management Group client that used ROI justification in most sales situations, we helped design the company’s website visit to work into their sales process. On the fourth step of the eight-step process, the salesperson would “take” the prospect through the website, including completing an online questionnaire regarding a potential solution. The prospect’s information was automatically run through a spreadsheet, which was then reviewed by the company’s CFO.

Next, the CFO created a written analysis of the projected ROI. Then the salesperson delivered the CFO’s results to the prospect, discussed the potential ROI and reviewed the value-proposition messaging. Finally, the salesperson closed by saying something along these lines: “I will work with you every quarter for the next two years to either validate that these metrics are achieved or to define what actions need to take place to ensure your ROI.”

While the effort may sound labor-intensive, the interactive online experience, combined with the CFO’s input, usually paid off by bringing the prospect closer to the company. The salesperson’s closing commitment was designed to prove the company’s marketing messaging, which, in turn, was likely to increase the prospect’s trust and confidence in the organization. Additionally, whenever a prospect became a client, the salesperson had a built-in sales call scheduled every 90 days for the next two years!

Beyond Crossed Signals

Often, marketing teams develop great value propositions and other messaging for their companies’ websites and other materials, but the sales teams aren’t trained to deliver those messages effectively. In fact, during many client engagements, we find that salespeople can’t accurately or clearly express their organizations’ value propositions. For that reason, we recommend that companies offer formal training, including role-playing exercises, to ensure that their salespeople can effectively deliver the appropriate company messages. Your salespeople do not have the “right” to put their spin on your message. Our recommendation is to video tape your role play exercises, especially when the salespeople work on delivering your value proposition.

Bottom line: Your company’s Web site should not only help all online visitors understand what your business does and invite them to investigate further, but also ensure that your selling process effectively proves your message to prospects and customers. By linking your value proposition to the emotions that prospects go through during the sales process, then creating an interactive online sales experience, you can increase both your sales velocity and your win rates.