The purpose of this writing is to foster an introductory sales and marketing discussion. Starting a sales and marketing structure is similar to building a house; there are many parts that need to come together in an orderly fashion for the house to become something useable and lasting. First and foremost however the house needs to be built on a solid foundation. My apologies in advance if some of my commentary comes across as simple and obvious. This discussion is intended to bring us all to a common understanding and frame at a high level the sales and marketing challenges that face the new company as well as foster a discussion that will eventually lead one to an executable plan.
Given the early stage nature of a business start-up, relative to the sales and marketing area, there are a number of business challenges that the new company will need to overcome to begin to generate sustainable sales momentum. One of the foundational challenges the company will need to spend some quality time on is in the value proposition area. Fielding any sort of sales effort without first validating if there is pent up demand for your product and clearly articulating a value proposition will be a very expensive and highly risky proposition.
Only after validated confirmation that there is indeed pent up demand for your product and that further you have a highly competitive offering should you begin on a sales and marketing effort.
Opening questions:
- Who is my customer?
- What is the problem my product is designed to resolve?
- Does my product resolve the problem better than what is currently available to the customer?
- If so, how so?
- Is there any data that supports this assertion?
- What makes my product indispensable?
These are critical questions that need clarity in the affirmative area to begin working on the value proposition.
What Does Value Proposition Mean?
A business or marketing statement that summarizes why a consumer should buy a product or use a service. This statement should convince a potential consumer that one particular product or service will add more value or better solve a problem than other similar offerings.
Value Proposition Explained
Companies use this statement to target customers who will benefit most from using the company’s products, and this helps maintain an economic moat. The ideal value proposition is concise and appeals to the customer’s strongest decision-making drivers. Companies pay a high price when customers lose sight of the company’s value proposition.
After the value proposition for the product/solution is defined and articulated, the next step is building the company around it to market and satisfy what will hopefully be rich customer demand. In this instance I am only addressing the sales and marketing end as the business operations will need to follow a different path.
-End of Part One-