One of my longtime friends, who also happens to be an expert writer and consummate marketing expert, has always been fond of saying “In America, you are what you say you are until proven otherwise.” I love that line because you can apply it to just about any facet of life, politics certainly but also your personal or business life as well. But for me, I always pull it out whenever anyone wants to talk about their value proposition and price.
Money talks
By Barbara Bix
Shortly after I got up this morning, I strolled over to Marketing Over Coffee for a quick shot before heading off to work and found this great article, entitled How to restore the faded luster to marketing by Rich Guha. In my opinion, it’s a “must read” for anyone looking to build a business or aiming to build a career in marketing.
It’s about the big picture
Referencing management heroes such as Peter Drucker and Ted Leavitt, the article discusses what companies have lost as marketing becomes more specialized. Guha advises marketers that wish to add significant value to the business to:
Thanks to Olga Taylor for today’s guest post. Olga is a freelance copywriter from Jamaica Plain, MA who enjoys sharing insights about her work. To reach her send mail to olga.taylor@quartesian.com.
Her post:
I am a people pleaser. This means that not only do I want clients to be happy with work process & outcome, I also want them to feel good about my price. I’ve learned that it is often a challenge even with old clients who like and trust what I do. But more so with the segment of new clients who need original & creative work on a shoe string.
Especially in a tough economy, companies often discount their products and services to increase sales. The advantage of this approach is that it attracts attention–and has the potential to get prospects that ordinarily would not buy to try out your goods and services. The hope, of course, is that once they experience what you have to offer that they’ll buy again.
The question is does it work? And for whom?
Discounts do increase sales volumes
There’s no question that discounts increase sales volume. To find evidence, you need look no further than to a Reuters article that ran earlier this month about automobile industry sales.
As we discussed last week, a compelling value proposition is a clear, concise description of exactly how buyers will benefit from your solutions. Done well, it motivates action by speaking directly to the needs of those who need your services most and mitigates risk by addressing potential reservations.
Nevertheless, to be truly effective, your value proposition must target your most promising prospects. Willie Sutton robbed banks because that’s where the money was.
<-SUBSCRIBE to this BLOG
Twitter links powered by Tweet This v1.8.3, a WordPress plugin for Twitter.
Twitter