Communicating Value

How do you communicate your value? It’s a question that those of us who develop relationships and new business have to ask daily. Without proving your value to customers and prospects your business stagnates.

Everyone provides some value…it’s just that some people have a hard time communicating what that value is, or they’re out there trying to prove the wrong value.

This was brought to my attention recently when someone I follow on twitter posted a screenshot of an outreach email that he received, which began:

“Hi there,

"Attached is my resume and a couple of demos.”

He was taken aback at the lack of personalization at the, “Hi there,” but I think the problem runs a lot deeper. You only have a few seconds to grab someone’s attention before they move on to the next thing. “Attached is my resume” offers no value at all and no context. It asks the recipient will do all the work to figure out who you are and how you will fit.

A voiceover talent might lead with something more like: “My name is Tralfaz, and I have a velvety smooth voice that’s helped XYC Corporation, 123 group and XFGHLSK in a variety of explainer video and elearning projects.” While it may not be perfect, the recipient knows some quality of the voice in question, as well as brands that the talent has worked with.

But it’s not just voiceover. Just don’t send an email or LinkedIn request to someone without some helpful background. I sometimes receive LinkedIn requests from people I've never met with no explanation as to why we should connect. Why do I care about your email or about connecting with you on LinkedIn if you're not going to help me understand the benefit of doing so?

And the answer better not be: "I want to connect so I can show you our new widget." Again, no value. The value is not in your widget; the value is in how your service or widget can help.

When I reach out to new prospective clients, my goal is to develop a relationship and let those clients know they can depend on me when they have a need for a voice talent. I only send my resume when they ask.