Even if you don’t realize it just yet, you are remarkable. You have the potential to build an incredible personal value proposition that doesn’t just make selling easier, it can lock out the competition entirely.

Mark Holmes is an expert at generating new sales with large and strategically essential accounts and is the author of “The 5 Rules of Megavalue Selling”.

On this episode of The Salesman Podcast, Mark shares why we need to create a strong personal value proposition and how to create one in a few simple steps.

Keep going past the video to see the step by step guide.

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What Is A Value Proposition?

Mark suggests that a value proposition is “the main two or three reasons why someone would want to buy from me, my product, my service. Rather than from my competitors”.

Additionally, Jill Konrath suggests that a business value proposition is “a clear statement of the tangible results a customer gets from using its products or services.”

We need to use this tool in business because we all have incredibly short attention spans.

When you first jump in front of a new prospect, leveraging this little bit of attention to earn more time to discuss your product in detail is typically the only play you have. A compelling value proposition increases the chances of the prospect sticking around.

A strong value proposition is like wearing a gold Rolex when speed dating. It might not result in sealing the deal itself, but with many women, it’ll buy you enough time to work your charismatic magic.

Building an initial value proposition is crazy simple. We need to answer three questions –

* How does your product help solve my problems?

* What can I expect from your company within the first 90 days?

* Why should I be speaking to you and not your competition?

Answering these first 3 questions allows you to make a strong first impression and earn the right to continue the conversation.

Mark suggests that the importance of all of this is that if we don’t “we risk becoming one of these ‘me-too’ businesses”. 

Personal Value Proposition Examples

The problem is…

Most businesses in the internet age have similar features, benefits and end results when compared to the competition.

This is where your personal value proposition comes in. You de-commoditize your product by making YOU the differentiator.

I did this all the time in medical device sales by being more available to help my customers than my competition. I was single at the time, no pets, no responsibilities and so if a surgeon needed a piece of equipment or some troubleshooting done on their camera systems at 10 pm on a Friday, I was there to help them.

It made me lots of commissions, it didn’t make me happy, but that’s a story for another time.

The point is that you personally have features and benefits that your customers can leverage that your competition cannot replicate and so you need to be able to share them with a very quick personal value proposition.

Here are a few examples –

* I’ve worked for both of the leading competitors in the industry. I know all of their products inside and out and so I can help guide you better than each of them individually.

* I worked with your CEO on XYZ project a few years ago. We get on great and so the onboarding process w...

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In this #SalesLegends mashup episode 5 of the worlds top sales experts explain the best and most unusual ways to grab a prospect’s attention. In the internet age, where there are more beeps, distractions and multitasking than ever before, the ability to get that initial traction with a prospect often separates the top sales professionals from the average ones.

 

Video Podcast:

 

Audio Podcast:

 

Transcript:

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ENJOY THIS EPISODE? Why not leave us an iTunes review to say thank you. It takes 20 seconds but makes a huge difference to the number of sales pro’s we reach each month.

 

Click here for a step by step guide to leaving a review.

 

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John Asher is the CEO of Asher Strategies and a crazy interesting dude. He co-founded an engineering firm in 1986 and during his tenure as CEO, the company acquired seven other engineering and software development companies. His team sold the company in 1997 after growing annual revenue to $165m. In 1998, he co-founded a sales advisory services practice that has grown into a global leader in sales strategies.

In his first career, John was the captain of two nuclear submarines like the Dallas in the movie “Hunt for Red October”. He completed his Navy career in the Pentagon as the Program Manager (buyer) of the $2B nuclear submarine combat systems program.

On this episode of The Salesman Podcast John shares how we can hack the sales process and close more deals, faster.

 

Video Podcast:

Audio Podcast:

 

Resources mentioned:

* AsherStrategies.com

* John on Linkedin

* Book: Close Deals Faster: The 15 Shortcuts of the Asher Sales Method

* @ASHERSTRATEGIES

 

Transcript:

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ENJOY THIS EPISODE? Why not leave us an iTunes review to say thank you. It takes 20 seconds but makes a huge difference to the number of sales pro’s we reach each month.

Click here for a step by step guide to leaving a review.

 

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Adrian Swinscoe is a customer experience consultant and advisor and has been growing and developing customer-focused large and small businesses for 20 years.

On this episode of The Salesman Podcast Adrian shares why “customer service” can be a unique and powerful competitive advantage for B2B sales professionals.

 

Video Podcast:

 

Audio Podcast:

 

Resources mentioned:

* AdrianSwinscoe.com

* @AdrianSwinscoe

* Adrian on Linkedin

* Book: How to Wow: 68 Effortless Ways to Make Every Customer Experience Amazing

 

Transcript:

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ENJOY THIS EPISODE? Why not leave us an iTunes review to say thank you. It takes 20 seconds but makes a huge difference to the number of sales pro’s we reach each month.

Click here for a step by step guide to leaving a review.

 

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On this #SalesLegends episode of The Salesman Podcast 5 world leading sales experts share how we can stay top of mind with potential customers if we’re in the middle of a lonngggggg B2B sales cycle.

 

Video Podcast:

 

Audio Podcast:

 

Transcript:

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ENJOY THIS EPISODE? Why not leave us an iTunes review to say thank you. It takes 20 seconds but makes a huge difference to the number of sales pro’s we reach each month.

Click here for a step by step guide to leaving a review.

 

Do you want to become a legend in your industry?

How would that affect your sales performance? What would your day look like if you had inbound leads hitting your inbox rather than having to cold call until your fingers bleed from dialing?

On this episode of The Salesman Podcast, Shama Hyder shares a bunch of personal branding examples and a step by step process to getting known in your industry

Sharma is known as the “Zen Master of Marketing” by Entrepreneur Magazine and the “Millennial Master of the Universe” by Fast Company.

Keep reading below the video interview to learn how.

Full Video Podcast

 

Step 1: Measure

Sharma suggests a measurable part of your personal brand is tracking how often people say “oh you’re everywhere and I’ve heard of your company. Everyone in sales knows the difference between calling someone and getting hung up on, verses they pick up the phone and say I like you guys”.

If you are a no one in your industry, your approach is going to differ compared to someone who has been selling the same products, to the same market for the past 20 years.

Knowing where you are starting from is an important first step before you move onto tactics to increase brand awareness and see some specific personal branding examples.

Step 2: Quickest Way To Build A Brand

Sharma advocates that the highest leverage activity for building a personal brand is to “ask why and what are you trying to accomplish”. 

The reasoning for this is that many people dive in, build a LinkedIn profile, build a website, start shouting across the internet “I’m HERE!” before they know what their message is.

You only get one shot at a first impression. So don’t waste it telling the world that you’re a great lover, salesperson and exaggerator.

So let’s start with the end in mind. Your message must have a goal –

* Shorten sales cycles

* Build “trust at distance”

* Open new non-selling opportunities

* Create a side-hustle business

* Get visible to increase inbound leads

What is your end goal with your personal brand?

Step 3: Build Your Personal Brand Statement

Your personal brand statement makes you viral. Your statement is 1-2 sentences answering what you are the best at (value), who you serve (audience) and how you do it uniquely (USP).

It’s not a mission statement or anything as cheesy as that. But rather your catchphrase you are known by that shares your specific industry expertise.

So working backward from the goal you want to achieve, you can build your statement with the following 4 steps –

* List out what you’re good at. Simple for sure but when people are searching for experts in your industry, they don’t want the 47th best at X task, they want the top players. This will be the main focus of your personal brand statement.

* Choose your audience. Are you selling to CFO’s? Are you selling to middle managers in the SAAS IT market? You need to clarify who your message is for so that you can use the language that they like to use.

* Make it memorable. With that said, a 6-year-old should be able to understand your personal brand statement. There shouldn’t be any overly technical terms as you might be getting referred around by non-technical people too.

* State your USP. Everyone is gifted at something. What are you incredible at and how does that relate to adding value to your customers? Sure being able to suck your own toes is impressive but your USP must be something that your prospects will...

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Paul Cherry is President and Founder of Performance Based Results. With over 20 years experience, he has worked with more than 1,200 organizations in every major industry and has been featured in more than 250 publications.

On this episode of The Salesman Podcast Paul shares how we should be using questions to uncover value from our prospective customers and then leverage this to disrupt their current vendor relationships.

 

Video Podcast:

 

Audio Podcast:

 

Resources mentioned:

* Book: Questions That Sell: The Powerful Process for Discovering What Your Customer Really Wants

* PBResults.com

* Paul on Linkedin

 

Transcript:

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ENJOY THIS EPISODE? Why not leave us an iTunes review to say thank you. It takes 20 seconds but makes a huge difference to the number of sales pro’s we reach each month.

Click here for a step by step guide to leaving a review.

 

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Jay Heinrich is the author of the New York Times bestseller, “Thank You for Arguing” and his latest book “How to Argue with a Cat: A Human’s Guide to the Art of Persuasion” is a personal favorite of mine.

On this episode of The Salesman Podcast Jay shares how to win an argument even if the other person isn’t being logical about the situation.

Video Podcast:

Audio Podcast:

Resources mentioned:

* Book: How to Argue with a Cat: A Human’s Guide to the Art of Persuasion

* JayHeinrichs.biz

* @JayHeinrichs

Transcript:

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ENJOY THIS EPISODE? Why not leave us an iTunes review to say thank you. It takes 20 seconds but makes a huge difference to the number of sales pro’s we reach each month.

Click here for a step by step guide to leaving a review.

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Alex Berman is the founder and chairman of a marketing and lead generation firm Experiment 27. Berman is responsible for generating over $6.5 million in B2B sales and over $35 million in leads for his clients.

On this episode of The Salesman Podcast Alex shares how a lead generation agency produced leads for their clients and how Alex uses Youtube to drive not just awareness but also drive revenue.

 

Video Podcast:

 

Audio Podcast:

 

Resources mentioned:

* Alex on Youtube

* Experiment27.com

* @alxberman

* Alex on Linkedin

 

Transcript:

[zilla_toggle title=”Click here to open the transcript” state=”closed”]Coming Soon! [/zilla_toggle]

ENJOY THIS EPISODE? Why not leave us an iTunes review to say thank you. It takes 20 seconds but makes a huge difference to the number of sales pro’s we reach each month.

Click here for a step by step guide to leaving a review.

 

In this episode of #SalesLegends 5 of the worlds top sales experts share their thoughts on the question “Do you have any tactics for dealing with initial sales objections when cold approaching a prospect?”

Video Podcast:

Audio Podcast:

The Sales Legends:

Transcript:

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ENJOY THIS EPISODE? Why not leave us an iTunes review to say thank you. It takes 20 seconds but makes a huge difference to the number of sales pro’s we reach each month.

Click here for a step by step guide to leaving a review.