In a world of accelerating, disruptive change, positioning your brand is not easy and is always ever-evolving.

Per the book Eat Their Lunch by Anthony Iannarino, on a continuum of value creation, strategic partner value is the most evolved and effective way of offering counsel and selling your services/ product or idea.

This value creation has four levels:

Product – Level 1
Service – Level 2
Business – Level 3
Strategic Partner – Level 4

The book states that because of your business knowledge and situational knowledge, you can guide your customer or prospective customer towards business results and delivering impact. Which is why, your advice is trusted and applied by your customers in their business situations.

This is not to dismiss the fact that your product, customer experience and tangible business outcomes are also important. After all, how you take your conversation through these stacked levels shows the find of finesse and professionalism you have as an advisor to your customers.

You are as good as the value your product/ solution offers. But in a relational world, your next business will be given to an advisor who thrives on building strong relationships that underpins a valuable product and business service.

Your most unique advantage over others is your sense of deep understanding of your customer. Displaying a sense of business and emotional agility through your conversations with your customer shows that you care and you value their time, business and growth pivots.

By building a context of your value proposition through citing trends, questions that address your customer’s business concerns and how the apply to your customer’s business ecosystem, you become a trusted advisor.

Your most effective value proposition becomes your personal value creation through counsel, research, ideas and business insights of your customer.

This targeted, personalised approach helps you win business and solidify rapport and trust in your business environment.

How are you communicating your value proposition with your customers?

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