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Why Most Value Props Fail


Can everyone in your company articulate your value proposition consistently and concisely in 30seconds or less?

Ok, that’s a difficult question for any company to answer “yes” 100% of the time.

Let’s try this instead:

Can every salesperson in your company articulate your value proposition consistently and concisely in 30 seconds or less?

Here is a quick litmus test: If an executive sat down next to your salesperson in seat 4D on a plane and asked, “So what does your company do?” What would they say? We often hear “it depends”.

I am here to tell you that it doesn’t. Your value proposition should be communicated consistently by, at a minimum, every single salesperson in your organization in every situation. After all, it is communicating your brand!

According to the Rain Group, a strong value proposition consists of three key components and they must be articulated in the exact sequence in order to order to create a “recognition of need” with the potential prospect.

The three key components are as follows:

A strong value proposition must resonate, differentiate and substantiate.

Resonate: This is the “hook”…What’s in it for them? It should be one sentence and should l pique their interest enough to want more.

Butler Street’s Resonate: We help companies grow and their people grow® in the two most challenging areas organizations face: client development and talent development.

If you hadn’t noticed, we are so passionate about our value proposition, we had the first half of the sentence trademarked!

Once you have given them something to think about, you now must differentiate yourself from the rest of the companies in your segment.

Differentiate: This statement needs to show why your company is the best option.

Butler Street’s Differentiate: We are one-part consulting and research company and one-part training company made up of former CEOs, COOs and VPs of Sales. The consulting/research part of us diagnoses your business for gaps v. best practices and training part of us designs a “system of reinforcing activities” to close the gap and ensure the training sticks. Put simply, we Diagnose. Develop. Perfect.®

In our segment, very few companies have all three differentiators of (Diagnose. Develop. Perfect.®) and if they do, they are delivered by lower level associates or “trainers” with little to no real life experience in client and talent development. We also made the investment in trademarking our approach and methodology.

The final component your value proposition is your proof statement!

Substantiate: It should validate the resonate and differentiate portions of your value proposition and is best if supported with facts and data.

Butler Street’s Substantiate: Our clients grow 4X their respective markets.

Fact-based, data-driven substantiation is always best.

You must have all three components to be successful.