In one of the guides in the SellingBrew Playbook, Identifying Value Along Five Dimensions, we discuss how to go about determine the various ways your offerings provide value to your prospects and customers.
Exercises like this are great for breaking the internal tunnel vision that often develops around product-related benefits and value-drivers. And along the way, it’s not unusual for people to have a number of “Aha!” moments as they’re forced to think more broadly about how prospects and customers receive—and perceive—value.
But there’s something obviously missing…
While the guide provides nearly 60 examples of specific value-drivers along five primary dimensions of value, the word “brand” does not appear among them.
How can this be? Isn’t your brand supposed to be worth something to prospects and customers? Doesn’t having a strong brand provide a level of differentiated value in a crowded marketplace?
As marketers, we tend to throw around the word “brand” as a sort of short-hand. Of course, we know what it’s supposed to represent—and we often fall into the trap of thinking that our prospects and customers do, too.
They don’t.
Simply put, prospects and customers don’t care about your “brand”—not really. They care about the specific aspects of value that your brand has come to represent.
Is your brand about better service? How much better? Why is it better? And, how does that better service save prospects time, money, or hassle, relative to the alternatives? Is your brand about stability and reputation? Again, why should those things matter when making a purchase decision? And, how do those things save prospects time, money, or hassle, relative to the alternatives?
The point is that you should take care in using the “brand” short-hand when discussing the value of your offerings. Recognize that the concept of brand is an aggregate—an amalgamation—of specific aspects of value.
Break it down. Get specific. In doing so, you’ll likely uncover a half dozen or more specific value-drivers that deserve much more focus and attention.
