The 2 Types of Value - Or, Why We Struggle to Explain Ourselves to Others

Imagine three different timelines where you introduce yourself to the very same prospect for the first time, three separate times:

In timeline 1, they first learn about you by visiting your website. (Also in that timeline, can I be taller? Like 6-foot-2? Thanks. I needed that.)
In timeline 2, your prospect meets you for the first time in the hallway of an event, and you have a quick chat. (In this timeline, I just gave the keynote that morning, and also I don't know what back pain feels like.)
In timeline 3, your prospect has agreed to a meeting, and you decide to get coffee for an hour. (I'm actually the owner of the coffee shop in this timeline. You see, I won the lottery and used the proceeds to open the Creative Cafe. And cure a bunch of diseases or start a foundation or whatever.)

A seven-second scan of your site.

A three-minute hallway chat.

A 60-minute coffee meeting.

Quick: in which timeline does the prospect walk away feeling most confident they should hire you?

Precisely.

Also, I have a non-fat half-caff dirty chai latte with your name on it.

Every time we communicate with others is a chance to convey our value to them, but way too often, it's only when we have a lot of time with someone that they really "get it." We fail to realize there are two types of value that we offer others, and as a result, we only think about the type that takes the longest to explain:

Discovered value is a deeper kind of value which others might discover with time spent. Maybe that means a 60-minute meeting, or maybe that means hiring you and walking away thinking, "Wow, I hired Jay initially to develop my premise and my signature speech, but he helped me totally rethink my entire public platform!" That's discovered value. The defining trait of discovered value is that it's recognized over time.
Apparent value is much more readily (wait for it) apparent. It's the value others can immediately understand is on-offer. You can deliver it in short-order and the prospect or audience does not need to invest much time or energy into understanding you. Maybe that means some website copy or maybe a quick hallway chat, but immediately, you recognize, "Ah ha! Jay helps me differentiate easier and resonate deeper as a public voice and service provider." The defining trait of apparent value is that it's recognized instantly.

When you're an expert in Your Thing, bring passion to your work, and/or tend to have lots of ideas or years of experience, it can often feel exceedingly difficult to explain your apparent value, because every fiber of your being is shouting at you, "But, but, but ... it's so much MORE than that!" Like a psychologist who reads a popular article on anxiety, you've got the burden of knowledge and a deep desire to serve others. You're also just smart and very steeped in Your Thing, meaning you struggle with apparent value.

This is a big problem, if the goal is to start a relationship with a prospect or successfully pitch gatekeepers who lead communities of your ideal buyer. They need to hear something readily apparent. They won't invest much time learning about you to "get it." They need to get it (or more accurately, get part of it—and a really important part) quickly.

The trick to being a substantive expert who also explains their apparent value is to NEVER try to explain your discovered value in a short line or two. The two types of value sound like different but connected things.

The types of apparent value I personally offer my clients as a consultant sound like things you're already wandering the earth thinking about: differentiation, clarity, storytelling, and speaking. These things inform my initial messaging and the first moments I communicate with others in-person.

I help experts become stronger public voices and show up as the best versions of themselves everywhere they communicate.

My discovered value would then follow from what's readily apparent. It may not be things you've considered I offer sounds like stuff you haven't considered but logically will conclude you need once you spend at least a little time with me. Given the above description, I can start to explain more about storytelling, speaking, and most notably, premise development and turning your thinking into IP. That's slightly more "discovered," and even further into the future of our relationship, you'll learn how transformational these things are to everything you do, not just your next speech or public-facing project. But that requires more time to discover. It behooves me to get you leaning in first, not by overpromising, but by delivering succinctly a form of value you see as readily apparent and immediately desirable.

Now, the mistake I see from experts and entrepreneurs is daydreaming about that one single line of copy they can write or speak to perfectly summarize 100% of their value. This is just that. A dream. It's not real. It's fiction. The sooner we come off our strange obsession with saying One Thing that say All Things, the sooner we can busy ourselves with the real work of crafting our premise and our message to inspire action in others.

When people fail to recognize the fiction and continue to seek one perfect line, the result is a lot hackish messaging, overpromising results, and/or using lazy proxies for our worth, instead of describing our actual value.

Hackish messaging sounds like "accounting software that doesn't suck!" or "your one-stop-shop for all your marketing needs." You say something which says nothing, or you will say anything if others look your way.
Overpromising is arguably the most familiar approach. Overpromising sounds like (gestures to LinkedIn). But no, sadly, they can not 10x your business in 10 days, nor 10 weeks, nor even 10 months.
Then there are the category I call proxies for value. Your profile photo shows you next to GaryVee. You proudly associate yourself with brands and awards which, let's face it, devalued themselves years ago, so you're doing the same now. (e.g. TEDx speaker; Forbes 30 Under 30). These are stand-ins for your value. Proxies. Poor ones.

Instead, I coach people through three distinct phases of clarifying their value to others. This arms them with the language they need and which they can customize to all interactions and touchpoints, but it also helps them more fully embody their own message to the world (because what good is a "correct" or pristine message if you can't tell the story in ways that feel effortless to you and memorable to others?).

First, we develop your premise. Here's more on doing so.
Next, we flesh out the premise into a core narrative argument. This is the argument you're making to the world both overtly and implicitly in everything you do, everywhere you show up. It also sounds like the structure of a great speech, because great speeches are great arguments. The full argument written out is one way you can articulate your discovered value Try the dialogue outline as a useful tool for doing this.
Finally, we make things shorter, because it's always harder to do this step early in the process, and we benefit from the practice and the process of developing language in steps 1 and 2. To make things shorter (that is, make your value more readily apparent), we don't look for one single line or phrase. We look for three, and the three phrases are shared in the right sequence such that others come running your way. This is a technique I call "laddering down" your message.

From messy honesty with yourself to a distinct premise. From a premise to the longer-form explanation of value which others discover. And from a longer-form explanation to a tightly articulated series of phrases you can repeat everywhere to immediately turn on lightbulbs and spark conversation. This is a repeatable process you can use to solve a foundational problem facing all experts, entrepreneurs, and service providers.

Whether you're speaking to a potential client or pitching a gatekeeper to get into densities of your ideal audience, the reality is the same.

You know a lot, but you can't it all at once.

You deeply care, but you have to show them why they would.

You bring differentiated value to others.

But can you make that clear?

For more techniques for doing this and to see examples in-action, please join me for a my next free virtual talk.

I'm partnering with the wonderful and wise business strategist and business model designer Michelle Warner for a special live masterclass on this very subject. (FYI, the registration is on her website, not mine.)

Join us on Tuesday, September 16 at 2pm ET/11am PT for my session, Premise Development: How to Turn Your Expertise into Stronger IP to Productively Haunt Your Market
"Productively haunting" is a classic Michelle-ism which I've grown to love. It's what happens when you're not in the room but they keep thinking about you and referring you to others.

Learn more and register for free.

(Yes, it will be recorded and shared.)

In this session, I'll be speaking about: