Springfield Business Journal is the regional business authority. That is our purpose and that is our value proposition.
Over the past year, we have been revitalizing the SBJ brand, our products, events and how we serve the business community, our readers and advertisers. We’ve taken a hard look at how we continue to refresh what we do to maintain our position as your daily and weekly business authority. That has included reader feedback, surveys, focus groups and lots of listening to key business leaders in our community.
We are happy to say it is working. Our paid circulation is up 21 percent this year, and SBJ is growing.
Whether you are reading this edition online or you’re flipping though the pages before you route it through your office, you’ll notice it literally carries a lot of weight – 64 pages to be exact. It is fitting this is SBJ’s 2017 Progress Edition. We are proud of the progress we’ve made and much of that can be credited to our firm understanding of SBJ’s purpose and aligning our growth strategies with our value proposition.
When it comes to developing a valuable proposition, the process isn’t easy. It requires a commitment from the entire organization. Every person in the organization has a unique and valuable perspective and it takes all voices to accurately summarize a simple, but powerful statement about what makes your organization unique. Once you discover it, and your value proposition is correct in the eyes of your market, the natural order of “what’s next” unfolds fluidly.
It’s important to communicate your value, and here are 10 steps to get your company there:
1. Establish a strategic foundation. Having a strong, relevant and conclusive value proposition becomes the epicenter of how you develop your products, create your marketing strategy and build business development plans.
2. Set your organization’s internal self-tape. Your value proposition provides clarity among your team and helps develop a cohesive understanding of your business identity, which helps on-boarding and team unity.
3. Differentiate from your competition. When your purpose is what separates you from your competitors, it strengthens your competitive advantage. You want your customers to be able to succinctly describe how your are different from your competition just as eloquently as you can.
4. Qualify your opportunities. When you clearly define what you do and what makes you most valuable, natural business opportunities rise quickly because those in the market see how their needs can be met. On-point value propositions make good matches earlier in the sales process.
5. Boost your business development. A strong value proposition leaves a lasting impression in the minds of your potential customers. Invest in your business development efforts by making your mark that is not only memorable, but also is a promise you can fulfill.
6. Increase sales opportunities. Any sales team needs a strategic marketing message behind them as they interact with potential customers through your sales process. Establish a firm foundation that defines what your sales team offers exclusively as business is done.
7. Retain your current customers. Your current customer base needs a constant reminder of what makes you different, and a clear value proposition supports their smart decision to choose you.
8. Reinforce your message to future employees. Like prospective customers, clearly defining what you do better than your competition will set in the minds of hiring prospects what course their careers could take if they worked for you. Attract the best.
9. Support your initiatives. When your team believes in your value proposition, they will help develop and execute strategic and tactical plans because they understand how the pieces fit and why they are important.
10. Increase your overall value. Leveraging your value proposition drives your value higher for both short-term initiatives and your long-term position. It must be so clear and so true that you can live with it for the foreseeable future and shout it from every mountaintop.
How will the value proposition continue to unfold for SBJ? Look for more daily and weekly breaking news, easier web platforms, more content events and more engaging social media – each to drive our business community forward.
With great power comes great responsibility. We at SBJ are proud to be your business authority, and we own the responsibility of providing the best of class in local business news and information.
Springfield Business Journal Associate Publisher Marty Goodnight can be reached at mgoodnight@sbj.net.
