Value in the Proposition

As the company CMO, I’m often asked my thoughts on advertising. Where should my firm place an ad? Who should design, copywrite and print our collateral? Direct mail or e-campaign? LinkedIn or Facebook?

Long before I extol the virtues of building a sound marketing plan or even touch upon the micro-details of search engine optimization, I boil the conversation down to something more fundamental yet indispensable to the success of any business plan: the company value proposition.

At North Mill, we’re proud to work with many brokers, or referral agents, who excel at what they do. Creating a unique identifier that clearly resonates and succinctly separates one player from the next, though, is not easy to do for any firm. According to HubSpot, upwards of one-third of B2B businesses do not have an established value proposition. Indeed, in a sea of equipment finance brokers who call on a finite set of lenders, extricating oneself from the pack can make a big difference in the level of success achieved.

 

Extricating yourself from the pack can make a big difference.

When discussing value proposition, I find it easier to highlight what it’s not. It’s not a slogan, tagline or a way to position yourself in the market. Instead, it’s a business ingredient that solves a problem a competitor cannot solve—or at least cannot solve as well as you do. It’s also a promise that assures you’ll deliver value and why you’re the best one to do so. Given the significance of the topic, much can be said. There is a short list of principles, however, that we at North Mill Equipment Finance abide by. A few worth noting:

Ask and Ye Shall Receive

One of our brokers newer to the equipment finance industry lamented that she just didn’t know what to say in her value story. The suggestion: Who better to zero in on what the customer is looking for than the customer? At North Mill, we regularly survey our brokers on how we’re doing. In the last year alone, we’ve implemented a list of enhancements based solely on broker feedback.

Benefits, Not Features

One referral agent was proud that his brokerage is family-run. A successful entrepreneur, he took it a step further and explained why that mattered to the customer. He didn’t emphasize the feature, but instead, the benefit. At North Mill, we expound on the benefits of being a broker-centric organization—and our referral agents rest assured that we will not go direct.

Know Your Competitors

Determining the strength and weaknesses of the competition is no simple task, especially when the landscape is dotted with lots of similar firms. Websites, marketing materials and current and former customers are just a few potential sources to tap. At North Mill, we leverage broker testimonials and, in turn, recommend our brokers do the same with their customers.

Whenever we can help our value referral agents, we jump at the chance. Simple though it may seem, crafting a unique and effective value proposition can be daunting. But by practicing what we preach, and by doing what we say we’re going to do, we believe we can offer sound advice. After all, helping our brokers succeed is part and parcel to our own value story.