One important lesson that I learned from my Sales and Negotiation course is that we should “put the reason before the answer”. If you want someone to listen and understand you, give them interests and justification first before conclusions or proposal.
Being a marketer is, somewhat like being a negotiator. We negotiate with our customers, asking them that with this product, at this time, in this location, with this price, and with this message, if they are willing to buy it.
Our customers, obviously, will never close the deal if they find our deal unreasonable, both logically and emotionally. And they hate being aggressively sold to. Value, whether it is economic, functional, experiential, or social, are our justification, our reasoning to persuade our customers that our products are worth their attention, their money, their time, their engagement, and their loyalty. And we should provide our customers with some value beforehand, or make strong promises to make our proposal more attractive, and appealing.
How to define our value
Before we can define our value, we need to understand that we can not provide the same value to everyone. We should, instead, 100% focus on our target segments. Seth Godin, in his brilliant book, This is Marketing has mentioned, instead of trying to sell our products to the mass, we should find a “smallest viable market”. The value we could provide, the promise we could make, and the world view we would like to share are impossible to fit everyone. We should focus on our segment, so we can use our limited resources to attract and engage with them better.
Perceptual Map
The value we bring to the table has to be unique and worthy to our “smallest viable market”. And we can do that by using Perceptual Map. Perceptual Map is popular with people doing business and marketing to understand consumers’ perceptions of our brand and competitors. It is a diagram showing visual images of customers’ mental landscape, showing how fierce the competition is in each quadrant and looking for positioning opportunities.
Solution for a dilemma when using Perceptual Map
However, when searching for a position in the Perceptual Map, marketers often face a dilemma. We should not go to crowded sections, but it’s also silly if we go to the unpopular and unprofitable ones. To thrive in a competitive market, we have to use the Perceptual Map differently. We have to stand for something unique. We have to build our own quadrant.
By choosing a “small viable market”, we have enough resources to conduct market research to understand our target customers inside out, their needs, desires, pain points, and behaviors. As a result, we can go to extremes, finding edges that our competitors overlook for our own Perceptual Map, and tailor our marketing strategies and positioning statement and value proposition accordingly.
How to communicate our value effectively
Perceptual mapping and market research enable us to build our effective positioning statement, value proposition, or unique selling proposition (USP). Based on different campaigns, we can tailor and use one or more out of those. While a USP focuses on a specific feature or benefit, a value proposition is more comprehensive and covers all the unique benefits a product or service provides to its customers. A positioning statement helps to position a product or service in the market, while a value proposition and USP help to communicate the unique value it provides to potential customers.
After defining our proposition and statement of values we would like to deliver, we can use the following tips to communicate with customers:
- Use storytelling: People love stories, and they are more likely to remember a story than a list of features and benefits. Use storytelling to illustrate how your product or service can solve a problem or fulfill a need.
- Use social proof: People are more likely to trust a product or service if others have used it and had a positive experience. Use testimonials, case studies, and user-generated content to show your customers that your product is worth their attention.
- Use emotional triggers: People make buying decisions mostly based on emotions, not just logic. Use emotional triggers like scarcity, urgency, and social proof to persuade your customers to take action.
- Use persuasive language: Use persuasive language that speaks directly to your customers’ needs and desires. Use “you” instead of “we”, and focus on the benefits, not just the features.
In conclusion, putting value first and selling last is a key principle in marketing and sales. By understanding our customers’ needs and communicating our value effectively, we can persuade them to buy our products and become loyal customers.