The sign advertising a local stamp, coin and collectables fair spruiked how EXCITING (with exclamation marks!) the event would be. But because I don’t have the slightest interest in collecting stamps or coins, I didn't feel compelled to add the event to my diary.

However, it got me thinking. Stamps and coins are only valuable if you’re interested in them.

It’s the same in business. Spruiking the value of your product or service can fall on deaf ears if the person you’re talking to doesn't measure value by the same yardstick. 

For example, it’s no good talking about accuracy and creativity if our clients value fast response and quick voiceover turnaround instead. Or if you’re a retailer spruiking the designer quality of your high-end kitchenware to a group of customers who value low prices, your message will fall on deaf ears. Sure, you might be able to deliver both, but the value proposition of what you’re offering needs to be tailored to what your customers perceive as valuable to them.

To do that, you need to listen.

Listen to your customers, find out their biggest pressures and what you can do to solve their problems. Find out what they see as important. Then, build your value proposition around those things. 

As humans, deep down, we’re inherently selfish. We all want to know why we should care about what someone is saying. About ‘what’s in it for me’.  We all have our perspectives of what we value and see as important. For businesses to stand out amongst their competition and ensure their branding messages don’t fall on deaf ears, they need to know what their customers actually value.

Because only stamp collectors love stamps. To the rest of us, they’re just little pieces of paper.