A friend of mine’s son has been dating a girl for about four months and he’s thinking about proposing. When my friend told me, I responded with “I hope not. He’s going to scare her away.” Don’t misunderstand me – she seems to adore him. However, when proposing marriage, timing is critical. Too late and she might reluctantly leave. Too soon and she might run away.
Stating your value proposition to a potential customer is similar. If you try to sell your value proposition too soon, then it falls on ears that don’t care. If you wait too long, your prospect may choose someone else. When stating your value proposition, timing is everything.
So, when is the best time to share your unique deliverable that blows away the competition and brings your audience to a standing ovation? In order to make the most powerful impact on another person, there are two things that must happen: you must gain credibility and they must be emotionally engaged. Using an extreme example, let’s assume that your prospect knows that you’re the most well-respected cardiologist in the world, and that they’ll have a heart attack in the next five days if they don’t buy into the right treatment. You haven’t stated your value proposition yet, but you’ve gained credibility from your status and they’re emotionally engaged because they know they’re likely going to die this week if they don’t make the right buying decision.
The time for your value proposition has come, and you boldly state: “We have a 100% success rate of saving our patients’ lives by preventing them from having heart attacks. Our system has an immediate impact and works on everyone. Sign here and we’ll bill you later.”
What do you think your prospective customer is going to do? Will they ask about price? Will they want to compare you to the competition? Of course not. They’re buying and they’re buying immediately.
Now, imagine if you made the same statement to someone that didn’t know your medical prowess or how dire their heart issue was. They knew that you were a cardiologist and that their cholesterol was a little high, but that’s it. You didn’t have unique credibility, nor did you have their emotional engagement. They’d probably be impressed with your statement, but I don’t think they’d buy anything.
Regardless of how awesome that value proposition, unique differentiator, or elevator pitch is, it falls on deaf ears if you state it too soon. Invest time early in the relationship or presentation establishing credibility. Once they realize that you’re the subject matter expert and understand their business, then ask questions about their situation until they’re emotionally engaged. Then … and only then … state your value proposition with confidence.