It makes no sense.  Here we are in the midst (bottom of the 4th inning in my estimation) of the Great Delevering following the Great Recession: the most significant extended downturn in business-related investment in our professional careers.  Scores of companies have publicly boasted of their intention to ‘transform’ (always search for this word as it signals big change coming) their business models.  Business employment is way down and staying down.  Business investments, specifically CapEx and OpEx, have plunged.  Technology refresh cycles have come and gone with not a lot of ‘refresh’.  Revenue growth is MIA and record levels of investible cash balances lie sleeping on balance sheets earning next to nil.

This should be the perfect ‘buying storm’.  You’ve waited your entire professional career for the stars to align like this.  Executives have pain and you’ve got end-to-end solutions in your sales bag.  Your value propositions are ready to go and they’re full of ROI, TCO, and blah, blah, blah.  You should be witnessing an executive feeding frenzy as prospects clamor for your problem-solving solutions.  Buy-side executives should want to talk to sales professionals more today than ever before, right?

If you are a sales professional, you have probably spent a good deal of time communicating the financial value of your solution: the so-called value proposition. Your company’s marketing department has probably spent a good deal of time crafting it for maximum audience impact. And your company executives probably have spent a good deal of time traveling around the world repeating it to anyone who will listen. It might even appear in an advertising campaign or in your company’s annual report.

Chances are your value proposition is structured as one simple financial message suitable for all customer audiences. It’s easy to understand, easy to articulate, and universal in appeal; it’s a beautiful work of prose. Your competitors repeat a similar mantra, but your company is well-respected and known to deliver on its promises. Right?