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Value Propositions and Willingness to Pay

In this episode of ProfitWell Report, we collected data from nearly 10,000 different subscription consumers to determine benchmarks on value propositions and their influencer on willingness to pay.

This episode might reference ProfitWell and ProfitWell Recur, which following the acquisition by Paddle is now Paddle Studios. Some information may be out of date.

Originally published: May 9th, 2018

In the Mad Men days of yore, sentiment would indicate that coming up with the right value proposition required a few steak dinners and plenty of martinis. In reality the data tells us the truth, namely using the right value proposition can have a big impact on your product.

On this episode of the ProfitWell Report, Ed Leake, Founder at AdEvolver asks us to look at the influence on willingness to pay that value propositions can have. To answer Ed's question, we looked at the willingness to pay data of nearly ten thousand different subscription consumers.

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Value Propositions Influence Willingness to Pay

To get right to the point, the right value proposition absolutely influences willingness to pay, and a lot more than you’d intuitively think.

We tested a fake CRM product amongst different groups of sales leadership with decision making authority on sales teams with less than 10 sales people. When asking these same buyers about the same product, but leading with different messaging we saw varying willingness to pay. Note how focusing on sales efficiency and organizing the chaos won out handedly against propositions like accelerate your growth and see inside your whole team.

Different B2B value propositions resulted in differing WTP

Remember this was the same product with the same description, the only piece we changed was the value proposition of the page, which resulted in increasing willingness to pay by 15-30%, which is no small amount at scale.

B2C Value Propositions Are Just as Important

Interestingly enough, these trends are similar in the B2C market, as well. When testing the willingness to pay for a fake fitness app, consumers resonated with the concept of keeping their fitness consistent and achieving their goals while sentiments around losing weight and getting healthy scored poorly. Again though, the swings are pretty dramatic.

Different B2C value propositions resulted in differing WTP

Mindset matters when priming your buyers to make a purchasing decision, which is the very definition as to why product marketing exists as a function within your organization. You need to know what your buyers are thinking and ultimately need to make sure you get to a point of position, packaging, and pricing fit to ensure you align your entire funnel around that which will make conversion smooth and willingness to pay maximized.

All data indicates - value propositions have a big hand in that experience.

Want to learn more? Check out our recent episode: What is Customer Research? and subscribe to the show to get new episodes.

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You've got the questions,

and we have the data.

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This is the ProfitWell Report.

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Hi, guys.

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Ed Leake here from Midas Media

and founder of Adevolva dot com.

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Love the pricing tear

teardown videos, by the way.

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Got a question for you.

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Do you think that,

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value propositions affect a

customer's willingness to pay?

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Oh, Ed.

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This is a fascinating question

because in the mad men days of yours,

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sentiment would indicate that

coming up with the right value

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proposition required a few steak

dinners and plenty of martinis.

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In reality, the data

tells us the truth.

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So to answer your question,

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we looked at the willingness to

pay data of nearly ten thousand

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different subscription consumers,

and here's what we found.

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To get right to the point,

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the right value proposition

absolutely influences

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willingness to pay and a lot more

than you'd intuitively think.

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We tested a fake CRM product

amongst different groups of

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sales leadership with decision

making authority on teams of

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less than ten people.

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And when asking these same

buyers about the same product,

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but leading with a

different message,

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we saw varying

willingness to pay.

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Note how focusing on sales

efficiency and organizing the

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chaos won out handedly against

propositions like accelerate

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your growth and see inside

your whole sales team.

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Remember, this was the same

product with the same features,

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00:01:15,425 --> 00:01:19,025

but the only piece we changed was

the value proposition of the page,

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which resulted in increasing

willingness to pay by fifteen

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to thirty percent, which is

no small amount at scale.

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Interestingly enough,

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these trends are similar in

the b to c market as well.

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When we tested willingness to

pay for a fake fitness app,

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consumers resonated with

the concept of keeping their

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fitness consistent in

achieving their goals,

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00:01:35,945 --> 00:01:38,745

while sentiments around losing

weight and getting healthy

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00:01:38,745 --> 00:01:40,585

ironically scored poorly.

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00:01:40,585 --> 00:01:43,845

Again, the swings were

nothing less but dramatic.

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Mindset matters when priming

your buyers to make a

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purchasing decision which

is the very reason as to why

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product marketing

exists as a function.

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You need to know what your

buyers are thinking and

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ultimately need to make

sure you get to a point of

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positioning, packaging,

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and pricing fit to ensure you

align your entire funnel around

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that which will make your

conversion smooth and

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00:02:03,880 --> 00:02:05,720

willingness to pay maximized.

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All data indicates value propositions

have a big hand in that experience.

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Well, that's all for now.

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If you have a question,

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shoot me an email or video to

p c at profit well dot com.

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Let's also thank Ed for

sparking this research by

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clicking the link below to give

him a nice little shout out.

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We'll see you next week.