PRODUCTTRAINING Does Your Value Proposition Pass the Test? • Plank 5 (Product X Safety): Product X has been tested in more than 5000 patients and has demonstrated side effects similar to placebo. • Plank 6 (Reduced Hospital Utilization): Lowering a patient’s A1C has been shown to reduce hospital ER visits and admissions due to hyperglycemia. • Plank 7 (Access): Product X is available to more than 80 percent of health plan members without any restrictions. Value planks and their supporting messages may be field tested with different target audiences to gauge which will resonate the most. Typically, many messages are tested; only a few are selected. The Value Story in Practice Applying the compelling, solutionbased value story is the final step in creating a distinctive brand. Value messages can be knitted into tools that managed care account executives and sales representatives use with their customers. Effectively communicating the value story to key customers starts with performance-based training. Work collaboratively with brand teams in the training design phase to incorporate the value story and how it was conceived (extensive research and testing). A training program on the value story should include four key phases: 1) activation of your training audiences’ prior knowledge, 2) demonstration of what “good” looks like, 3) application of the knowledge through practice and feedback, and 4) integration of this new knowledge on the job. Your audience needs to have confidence in the entire story, from planks through the supporting statements to the total value proposition. I When it comes to developing an effective value proposition, ask yourself these questions: • Is it meaningful? • Does it account for customer needs? • Does it connect with the customers on a functional and an emotional level? • Is it credible? • How believable is the positioning? • Is the positioning supported by your brand/company image? • Is it ownable? • Do you have the necessary data or regulatory support to be able to own this positioning? • Does the data exist to justify the positioning? • Is it differentiating? • Does it differentiate itself from the competition? • Is it single-minded? • Is it sustainable? • Can the competition easily undermine the positioning? • Can it endure for the next three years of the brand? Bryan Horveath is executive vice president and practice lead for S3 – Strategic Selling Solutions. Email Bryan at bhorveath@s3-sellingsolutions.com. FOCUS | WINTER 2013 | www.spbt.org 29http://www.spbt.org