Creating the All-Important Value Proposition

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Successful companies make promises in value propositions—and keep them.

What is a value proposition? I define it as a statement showcasing uniqueness. It becomes the focal point of all communication and marketing efforts to enhance branding and sales.

It is a simple definition. You can find more complex, comprehensive and intimidating definitions aplenty online. But your value proposition should cut to the chase.

Value propositions are not just for sales. They can serve other important purposes internally, like identifying improvement opportunities and encouraging service continuity.

Many companies lack value propositions. Or, if they do, they’re not effective. Do not be intimidated—creating value propositions can be great fun.

In fact, the creative process of forming a value proposition and the promise of better results can re-ignite contagious passion for what your companies does. Who knows? By appreciating what makes your company and its offerings special, maybe you’ll fall in love for the first time, or all over again.

To create a value proposition, begin with answering a simple question: Why should a customer buy your wares or hire you for your services? Believe it or not, when I ask this question, many business people will say, “Because ours is better.”

The value proposition gets at the why. In few words, it makes the case for your company and its products and/or services.

Too often, business executives become so insular they lose sight of the customer’s perspective. They need a dose of customer empathy (http://annmariecommunicatesinsurance.blogspot.com/2011_10_01_archive.html). To gain objectiveness, consider your own bewildering experiences when you do not know which product to buy. Assume your potential customer feels the same. They cannot tell the difference between your product and that of your competitors. They just want the answer quickly. Some ideas:

• Make a list of what makes your offerings unique. Then, ask customers why they keep coming back for more and the uniqueness they see. Compare notes. Your customers’ answers to why they see value might be better than your own.
• Narrow down the compelling reasons. Develop a statement as short as possible that makes the case for uniqueness. Break the lists down by noun, verb and adjective. Find commonalities in the words and consider a word to replace several words. Find the strongest and most accurate words.
• Be brutal about shortcomings as well. Identify them. Face them. Improve your stuff to ensure greater uniqueness.

Once a value proposition is in place, it will not only anchor your sales and promotion material, but will help your company in other ways.

To encourage credibility for one client, for example, we developed the value proposition. Then its products and services’ unique attributes were explained in greater detail. This became a list of promises. Then we developed a customer survey to ensure promises kept. The customer survey results not only boosted credibility, but also encouraged continuous improvement. Employees know the promises being made—and use them as a guide.

Promising and delivering unique value—tried, and still true.

You Gotta Have Heart

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Is it possible that we as consumers can actually love a brand? For me, it’s an interesting question.

You hear consumers use the “L” word all the time:

• “I love Starbucks—just the smell of that place is intoxicating.”
• “I love my Ford truck—man, it hauls that load!”
• “I love my insurance company—and when they send me that late premium notice, I get goose bumps!” (Okay, that’s never been said.)

But yes, it’s true. The best brands are loved. Truly loved. Not just “liked.”

Because whether or not you’re aware of it, the brand is a relationship that can evolve into incredible lifetime value for companies.

Work Your Brand

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Somewhere in the remote Nicoya Peninsula of Costa Rica, a 101-year-old great-grandmother is making you look bad. Her name is Panchita, and by the time you finish your morning blog rounds, she has already cleared brush, chopped wood and made tortillas from scratch. And here’s the best part: She’s not alone. People across the world are focusing on creating more of a healthy lifestyle. Joggers take to the streets, others go to the gym, and more people than ever are eating a healthier diet. Why? Taking care of your anatomy produces positive rewards.

The same is true for your brand. When’s the last time you examined it? Are you keeping it healthy? Are you feeding it on an ongoing basis? If you work with it, it will work for you—just like your body.

When you want to improve your lifestyle, you go to your doctor’s office. When you want to improve your brand’s “anatomy” and learn how to leverage it going forward, you come to Brand Camp.

We at Aartrijk would like to help you discover the answers to questions like, what should we spend on marketing and communications? Equally important, where to spend it?

The third Brand Camp will be held at the very cool Hotel Boulderado in beautiful Boulder, Colorado on May 7-9, 2012.

At this fun-filled outing we’ll explore “The Anatomy of a Brand.” Think of your firm’s brand (any type, any size) as you would yourself—a unique individual, a human being. For example:

Your brain: the rationale side, where you respond to specific features and benefits that are must-do’s (an insurance policy if you’re a carrier) or are value-added.

Your heart: where powerful emotions reside, where consumers make “soft and fuzzy” decisions on buying or keeping brands that often override the rationale brain.

Your ears: where you as a brand need to listen more to what consumers are seeking, where research is key.  And social media’s impact on those ears? “Your ears just got larger,” says Charles Wasilewski, one of our facilitators.

Your eyes: keen vision on where your brand is headed, your brand positioning, where you want to be in three to five years. For smart brands, this process never stops.

Your mouth: where you should speak with a strong, clear, consistent voice.

Your feet, your hands, your nervous system, your sense of survival—all of these things are important as well. We can’t wait to explore these concepts at Brand Camp—we want you to join us and go home with a clear roadmap for your company’s brand and your personal brand.

Some of the sessions include:

• Elements of growing and maintaining a healthy brand.
• The end of insurance business as we know it: An exploration of the future of the agency distribution system in light of changing demographics, diversity and social technologies.
• Key trends and action points for brands.
• Top 20 countdown: A rapid-fire discussion of top branding ideas, misperceptions, brand challenges, or lessons learned.
• Brand refresh: A panel of marketing execs will evaluate what worked and didn’t work in their re-branding efforts.
• And, of course, special evening networking events.

Join us. We’ll see you in Boulder on May 7.

Einstein, Lincoln and Carroll: Still not crazy after all these years.

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“Knowledge of what is does not open the door directly to what should be.” — Albert Einstein

In other words, beware trusting your future to false conclusions drawn from real facts. If he hadn’t died in 1955, I’d swear Einstein was describing what passes for common knowledge or collective wisdom these days. Consider the following:

• Omega-3 fatty acids top every healthy eating list, single-handedly driving salmon to the top of the healthy eating food chain; except a massive recent study found they also create two and a half times the risk of men getting aggressive high grade prostate cancer ().

• Dark chocolate in modest amounts is great for you; until a recent study found so are chocolate milkshakes, milk chocolate, chocolate drinks – and the more the better!

• Wine was discovered to be good for you, delighting oenophiles everywhere and driving sales of resveratrol supplements sales through the roof – until a recent study found beer works just as well, delighting sports fans everywhere.

In each of these studies, despite the clear facts contradicting accepted wisdom, researchers, the medical community and health officials everywhere found it difficult to let go of their preferred storyline. For example, how do you reconcile these two direct quotes from the chocolate study story:

• “The researchers compiled a systematic review of seven studies using data from 114,000 patients and found that people who consumed the most chocolate had a 37 per cent lower risk of developing heart disease and a 29 per cent lower risk of suffering a stroke than those who consumed less chocolate.” (emphasis mine)
• “Lead author, Dr Oscar Franco, from the Department of Public Health and Primary Care, said: “Chocolate may be beneficial, but it should be eaten in a moderate way, not in large quantities and not in binges,” he said. “If it is consumed in large quantities, any beneficial effect is going to disappear.” (emphasis mine)

Huh?

Moral of the story: Facts are great, but beware of those touting conclusions that better fit their preconceptions than the data. Before acting on a given “truth”, ask yourself if the facts lead directly to the stated conclusion. Here are but two of a myriad of business examples:

• “Bricks and clicks” is superior to just clicks. (Ever notice how the only ones espousing this as gospel have massive assets tied up in bricks?)
• Younger generations prefer social media, so agents better get there and fast. (Why ignore the majority of the marketplace, and arguably the ones with the most assets to protect/invest, in a stampede to youth? Besides, given recent experience with social media by certain politicians and myriad celebrities and politicians, perhaps we should rephrase Abraham Lincoln’s famous quote to read “Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to tweet and remove all doubt.”)

With apologies to Lewis Carroll:

“Beware the false conclusion, my son!
The truths ignored, the preconceptions that catch!
Beware the nattering expert who spins, and decide for yourself
twixt agenda and facts!”

The Myth of 24/7

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When I speak with insurance agents and brokers, I hear a common belief that in today’s world, 24/7 availability is required to be competitive. And who can blame them? In our instant gratification society there is an expectation that consumers want full access to all information whenever they want it.

But what exactly does “24/7” mean and is it really necessary?

If you believe the argument that auto insurance is a commodity, then the 24/7 expectation is justified. Yet, what your customers are buying from you, the agent, is more than a quote or a policy—they also are getting a personalized service built on a trusted relationship. Perhaps geckos don’t sleep but living, breathing insurance agents need their rest.

Clearly, mobile, social, and Internet technologies have created more channels to reach the consumer and for the consumer to reach you. Whether it is high noon, midnight or a weekend, 24/7 capabilities have made predicting when a customer will want access more difficult than ever—and added a level of expectation that for most agents is impossible to achieve. Rather than getting pulled into the 24/7 games of the online and direct carriers, use these technologies to amplify the unique value you offer as an independent agent. Use those technologies to build a strong online brand personality and engage with your community.

Don’t get me wrong. I am not saying that you don’t need to have “after hours” emergency contact numbers and a website with some self-service options. Just don’t lose sight of the fact that your customers are doing business with you because they value your expertise and have access to you and your advice and guidance in time of need. I think your customers value that more then being able to “shop” insurance at 2 a.m.

What’s your take and how are you using the new technologies to strengthen your brand?