TL;DR

Is there a product, a service… maybe a vacation spot that you find yourself going back to time and time again?

The product might be a commodity and the service could be pricey, but something keeps bringing you back.

Yes, there are reasons for that:

• Knowledgeable, quality staff
• Exceptional service and support
• Feelings and familiarity that are hard to put a finger on

Value is a complex formula, but as a One-Person Business, you provide the ingredients and doses.

Cost and value are distant cousins in a family tree with many branches. Value is where you want to be. Value is exactly what you can learn to instill.

Full Text

[Creating Value]

The above painting is by Paul Cézanne. He painted five different paintings all showing commoners playing cards. Many of the paintings were displayed in museums, but this painting had particular value – to one group. It was purchased by the royal family of Qatar for $250 million in 2011. Is it worth $250 million? Yes, if someone purchased it for that amount. Price – and more importantly Value – is in the eye of the beholder.

At Peachtree Labs, we help overwhelmed One-Person Businesses (OPBs) regain control of themselves and their business. One of the constant struggles we hear is that you’ve hit a revenue ceiling or can’t convert prospects into buyers. Over our 60 years of experience, we’ve come across a few great tools and a lot of fluff. All OPBs can benefit from learning how to Create Value. The higher your perceived value, the higher price you can charge.

Peachtree Labs - Creating Value Framework

The Creating Value Framework is an exercise that all One-Person Businesses (OPBs) need to do – particularly at the beginning or if you’ve hit a ceiling.

It involves four considerations:

1. Who do you serve?
2. What are their pain points?
3. What value does your solution provide for the customer?
4. Why buy from you?

1. Who Do You Serve?

I serve myself. Nope. You have customers. And if those customers aren’t specific, you’ve likely had a hard time gaining traction.

When we started Peachtree Labs we went through many variations of who might be our ideal customer. With 60 years of combined experience, there were many groups we “could” serve. We could help corporate clients with strategy and marketing, small business clients with value propositions, or entrepreneurs getting their business started.

We decided on a specific customer segment:

• One-Person Businesses where:
• An individual sells his/her EXPERTISE
• An individual is the brand
• An individual makes all the decisions
• It’s a business FOR and BY ONE PERSON
• Revenue greater than $100k but less than $1 million
• Experts in their craft but not in business

Notice that it’s not small businesses or entrepreneurs. Only a one-person business. OPBs have unique challenges, and we are only seeking those that have certain challenges.

Why so narrow? Because it’s narrow enough that you can clearly identify common pain points but broad enough that it’s still a sizable segment. Additionally, we both have experience building OPBs, including a management consulting firm from zero to $1.3 million in billings.

What’s your customer segment? 

If you struggle to define it, start by thinking about these two factors:

2. What Are Their Pain Points?

Before starting any product or service development, you need to know the pain or need you are solving for your customers. Here are the rules when defining the Pain/Need for your Customer Segment above:

• PAIN/NEED should be specific (refine, refine, refine)
• PAIN/NEED should be “personal” (can’t be general, needs to be felt by someone)
• PAIN/NEED should be “common” (sizable market?)
• PAIN/NEED should be “painful” enough for customer to want to solve for it

Once you’ve diagnosed the specific pain/needs your solving for, ask yourself two additional questions:

• Is this really the PAIN/NEED or a SYMPTOM of something else?
• Are they aware of the PAIN/NEED or are you alerting them?

Take time to clearly identify what issues customers are having – and how “painful” the issues are. If it’s an acute pain, they are ready to pay. A dull pain and they may need to be convinced. An unknown pain and they need to be educated.

Let’s look at two examples:

1. Company XYZ uses AI to automatically process survey results
2. Company XYZ helps busy research professionals free up scarce time by automating simple, standard survey research with minimal effort, allowing them to focus on the research that really matters.

Which one more clearly identifies a transition from State A to State B? [Hint: It’s B]

3. What Value Does Your Solution Provide for the Customer?

People value generalists, but they buy from specialists. Have you read a job posting lately? Companies are looking for someone who’s laser focused on a few distinct items – job function, industry, company stage, etc. It’s deep, not broad.

One of the common mistakes we see OPBs make is they speak endlessly about the features of the service or product that they provide. What matters is the benefits they’ll receive. If you want to sell a fan, don’t talk about the different speeds, let them know how good they’ll feel with cool air blowing on them.

You need to think about transitioning your potential customer  from State A to State B. What is their situation now, and how your solution can put them in a much better place.

Here are a few areas to consider when thinking about the State A to State B transition:

Now that you know State A and State B, you need to think about the mechanism you will offer to take your customer on this transition. That’s the solution you’ll provide. The faster, easier, and/or more effective you are at getting customers to State B, the more value you’ll provide.

Let’s look at two examples:

1. Company XYZ helps small companies succeed
2. Company XYZ helps struggling law practices increase their revenue in 3 months through highly targeted email marketing campaigns.

Which one has a better understanding of the value they deliver? [Yep, B again]

4. Why Buy From You?

OPBs are selling themselves. And people buy from people – but not all people.

“People buy from people that they know, like, and trust.”
- Bob Burg

• How do you get someone to know you?
  Are you sharing parts of your story – and learning theirs – such that potential customers feel like they “know” you? Do you use their name? Talk about their issues, their family, their daily life? It’s one thing to ask how they are doing, it’s another entirely to care about the answer. Can someone get to know more about you (not just a company blurb) if they go to your website or subscribe to your newsletter? Authenticity in communication and presentation helps people “know” you.
   
• How are you actively working at being likable?
  You don’t need to be someone’s best friend to be likable. Being respectful, kind, and patient is a good start. And not just to your prospect, but to anyone at any level of an organization you may meet. But the key factor of likability is to listen. Good listeners are more likable. They also understand more deeply the concerns and needs of customers.
  
  
• How do you instill trust?
  Trust is a word nearly everyone knows but few truly grasp what it means to be trustworthy. Charles H. Green created the Trust Equation, which is simple but powerful equation:

Credibility is one’s belief that you have the ability to do what’s required.
Reliability is your doing what you say you’ll do, repeatedly
Intimacy is how secure someone feels in your judgment and confidentiality
Self-Orientation is how focused you are in your own self (and not others)

Being known, likable, and trustworthy is a choice – and all OPBs should make that choice. For your benefit, and your business.

Our online course helps OPBs manage themselves and their business in a sustainable, productive way. If you want a deeper discussion on how to refine customer segmentation, create a unique selling proposition, and deliver value to customers, you may prefer our 1:1 Coaching program.

We look forward to serving you and your business through our Online Courses or in our 1:1 Coaching Program. Thanks for reading!

Peachtree Labs