Episode A.009 Building Your Value Ladder

Given our previous show on creating an offer for each of your targeted markets, this is the natural next step. This episode will start from the assumption you have not created a value ladder before. If you have - use it as a checklist to ensure your previous work is complete.
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This approach of tiering or stair stepping your product and/or service offer is simple - how do I get potential customers to engage so we can educate, influence, and persuade them to purchase our higher value products and/or services. Another analogy for this method is creating a funnel that moves the customer from beginning to end of your offer.

Most companies create 3 to 4 tiers to the offer with at least 3 objectives:

1. Collect information to create a buying persona and build a relationship.
2. Use the relationship to upsell your portfolio of products and services.
3. Anchor the prices by creating a desired sell level.

Let's take those 3 in order

The first level  is about a call to action (CTA) that trades an email address for something. It is viewed as bait to attract the perfect customer.  The bait is information you cannot get anywhere else - "you can learn from the school of hard knocks which is expensive, long, and predictable or pass that experience and build on the knowledge of others". This is a typical way of stating why prospects should engage with your business.

It is also your first opportunity to build a tribe. This starts with (1) making a statement (manifesto) of who you are - an extension of your vision-mission-values. (2) Second you make it easy for followers to connect with you. (3) Third you make it easy for followers to connect with each other. Remember generating revenue at this level is an effect of the relationship - not the cause.

The second level or levels is where the relationship built earlier is monetized. Usually you will find 1-3 steps from basic to advanced. Most marketing approaches will label this as bronze, silver, and gold. The one thing to consider is which level is your sweet spot? Where do you want to drive them? In a 3 tier offer it is usually the middle level.

The third level is your price anchor. This is a product and/or a service offer that you don't plan on having high volumes. Instead it allows you to place a price premium that makes the lower levels look enticing. It also should be a comprehensive bundling of everything especially if your lower items are standalone products and/or services.

Once you have completed this step, it is time to go back to A.007 and make another pass of market segmentation and A.008 on offers for each segment. before returning to this exercise. At this point you should be ready to venture into one of these markets.