08-20-08 Meeting

Today’s meeting was centered on creating a one page Business and Market Profile and creating a Value Proposition. The One Page Business and Market Profile (OPBMP) is designed to be given to sentinels. A sentinel is a person in your network who is in contact with people outside of your sphere of influence. The sentinel can be a powerful ally that will open doors to new business.

The template for a OPBMP is:

Picture and Brief Bio

1. Core Services/Skills/Products:

2. Target Market Descriptions:

a. Geographic

b. Industries/Sectors

c. Preferred Client Size

d. Target Buyers Title

3. Current Client/Customer Examples:

4. Recent Engagement/Sales Examples:

5. Key Competitive Advantages/Differentiators:

This OPBMP is a powerful way to give the sentinel a good understanding of what your business is all about. Think of this as the executive summary of your company. You want to make the engaging and speak to what your value is for your clients which leads us to the one page value proposition.

The one page value proposition talks about the value that you bring to the client. It is not enough to say that I provide accounting services, or marketing service. An example of an accounting value proposition could be reducing costs, increasing understanding of key financial data to help you make good business decisions.

Think of the value proposition for Wal-mart. “Always Low Prices”. Why do you go to shop at Wal-mart? You go there because you want the lowest prices. If you want excellent service you probably would go to Sax Fifth Avenue or Nordstrom’s. But if you want low prices, go to Wal-mart. This is the same notion with your value proposition. Make your value proposition centered on what your client values. Some examples include (make money, save money/cut expenses, save time, reduce pain, enhance health, trust, special expertise, one stop shopping, fun to work with, live longer, better sex life, solve unsolvable problems, go to heaven, etc.)

Here are some of the comments from today’s meeting.

“I’m going to change my value proposition from the 14 things I had previously to _________(intended objective, i.e. make money) by ______(means, i.e. ) as measured by _______(measurement, i.e. increased sales). This way the client knows what the measurement criteria are and they know how the objective will be accomplished.”

“I learned that it is also important to look at the emotional benefits that a service or product can offer to a client." Sometimes I only thing analytically about what I offer. The emotional part is an important part of the sale."