So what's your proposition?

Ask a your colleagues what a value proposition is and you'll get as many answers as the people you ask - maybe more. Helping our clients get clear on what they are trying to achieve with a proposition is often all that's required to focus attention on the right thing and swiftly get results. After all if a group is talking at cross purposes it's frustrating at best and rarely gets much done. We use several labels for different types of proposition and certainly make no claim to define what a value proposition really is - all we want from the labels is to ensure we are all working to achieve the same thing.

The first type of proposition we use is the credibility proposition.

As sales people we all want our clients to invest with us but money is not the first investment we need or can expect - the first investment is time. We need our clients to invest time with us so that we can go on to build a solution they want to buy. A credibility proposition is aimed at getting the client to invest that time.

Think of a time when you first contact someone, maybe a cold call, maybe at a marketing event or maybe in that dreaded elevator. Your realistic goal is not to get the client to buy then and there but rather to agree to meet you and explore things further. The components that will get the meeting are your own credibility, your company's credibility and also the credibility of your product or service. Get these three worked out and you will get a lot more success at appointment setting. Sometimes just one component is needed and sometimes all three. If you have just moved job then contacting previous clients is sometimes enough to have them meet you, as is getting a mutual contact to recommend you. Sometimes being able to say that you work for XYZ company is enough on it's own. And sometimes just your solution is enough on it's own. More often a credibility proposition that works gives all three components so that the client will trust you, your company and your solution at least enough to invest time with you.

Other proposition types that we focus on are:-

• Marketing Propositions that focus on positioning a company or solution
• Sales Propositions that focus very specifically on getting your client to invest money to meet precise needs that they place a real value on
• The Generic Proposition used to focus your own company clearly on what it is selling, how and who to
• Elevator pitches

What do you think of when you think of value propositions?