Honestly! This is the most important strategy any business can have. It is all about increasing the average order value of your customer as they go through the journey of being your customer.
Now if you have a one touch business as SOOOOO many small business owners do, you are missing a trick! Because having a good value ladder will help your customer have the best experience with you.
What is the value ladder?
Think about it as a way to stack your products, services, or offers. So that customers have a natural progression to move through as they are working with you. And each offer up the ladder will be exactly what your customer will need after they finish with the first. As an example when people finish my 12-week group coaching program – The Business Strategy LaunchPad – I offer them the ability to buy into the monthly membership. This offers them a monthly accountability call and a bonus guest speaker each month to continue to develop their business. So many of my clients say to me – “this is exactly what I need.” And that is because I built it with them in mind. You can check out my 60-sec video explaining a value ladder here!
Why do I need a Value Ladder?
This is a clear way of giving your customer a better experience working with you, meaning they will spend more money with you. So this is a win-win for everyone involved. It also gives you clarity on what to create and focus on. I see so many business owners building their services, programs, or products in the wrong order. They build the big-ticket end goal first and then have a really hard to selling anyone into it because they haven’t built trust or added value. Add Value to make Sales.
How do I create a Value Ladder?
This is the fun part! So I have a few ideas here that will help you get started. But if you want a more in-depth process you can do my 14 Day email challenge and set up your own. But let’s start here:
Firstly list out all the products or services you currently offer.
Then start to structure them in a way that flows nicely for the customer journey. (You might need to add things in or take things out) – This step will help you see the gaps that your customers have been falling through.
By the end of the process you should have a few levels to your ladder. Now you can have as few as 3 or as many as 100. But each level requires work, so think about what is realistic to start with.
Now you need to think about how do you get people that don’t work with currently to start the journey and move up.
Don’t worry about the top end, start with something free that gets people into your world. This will be something that will help the person massively. It could be a free item (lead magnet) or a low-cost item. But it needs to offer insane value to your customer. It needs to add loads of value for the customer and show them how working with you would benefit them.
How do I share my free item?
This is a great question and you have a number of options! You can go the good old networking route, but instead of just sharing a LinkedIn link, you can share a valuable document. Or you could promote it on social media through posts, videos, lives, or guest appearances in groups. Another option is to do PR and find a publication to write for, podcasts to attend, or TV slots to talk as an expert in your field. Or better yet you could reach out directly to your network and make offers to people directly if you know what you have could help them.
There are so many options but you have to always choose the path of least resistance for yourself. What will be the easiest way to showcase your skills, knowledge and area of genius to the world?
And then what???
So I know you are ready to get the most out of your business and that you are all about adding value for your customers. You just wish more people knew you existed! But fear not, with the clarity you gain from have a clear value ladder you are on the right path. I always say that business can be simple, even when it isn’t always easy!
So for some further development, I have created a full video on my YouTube channel that talks about the Value Ladder in more detail and how to set up your own – check it out here!
If you want to set up your own value ladder you can get a worksheet copy here. And once you have done that if you want to deep dive and extend your Value Ladder to get the most visibility and clarity then follow this link and complete the 14-day course! With just 15 minutes a day, you will be well on your way to setting up a business that is sustainable and profitable!
Otherwise check back in here next Tuesday for an exciting announcement and some more amazing value to move your business forward!