Part One: Value Proposition Articulation “If the message is relevant, then it concerns them. If the message is important, then it concerns them deeply. If the message is urgent, then it concerns them deeply, now.” ~ Flint McGlaughlin The concept of value is foundational to any transaction; and always has been. Be it the barter economy hundreds of years ago or grabbing a pack of gum at the bodega, any exchange is fundamentally based on an understanding – potentially perceived wildly differently by the parties on either side of the trade – of the underlying worth of whatever is being dealt. The ways in which value is communicated today is of course very different from years prior; advancements in technology and shifts in communication preferences over the last few years have been so dramatic that the way in which things were done even a decade ago now seem anachronistic as compared to current status quo. The ways in which we educate ourselves, the media by which we engage and the products and services we use today have experienced notable change, driven by innovation, and enabled by software. Information is now everywhere and free to consume. Digital channels and virtual interactions have usurped a handshake and a coffee as the dominant modalities for business communication. Products are available online; discoverable, searchable, learnable, and often testable prior to any human interaction taking place or purchase decision being made. Human beings have never liked being “sold to”, and the caricature of the sleezy used car salesmen barking “WHAT DO I HAVE TO DO TO GET YOU IN THIS CAR TODAY!?!?” has never been appealing. The buying process today is significantly more self-guided and laden with primary research and independent ingestion of user-generated feedback than it has ever been. Buying experiences have become increasingly self-service in nature, especially for technology-focused offerings, enabling a buyer to navigate the entire evaluation journey and ultimate purchase experience on their own. The phrase “Product-Led Growth” was first coined in 2016 but has quickly risen to prominence in technology circles in less than a decade to define and describe a new way of buying. Which definitionally requires a new manner of selling. The theme of interest in the first part of our Sales Tech Thought Map series we describe as Value Proposition Articulation. It encompasses three sub-themes, all of which touch on an element of enabling the aforementioned new paradigm shift in the world of selling. We’ve observed a number of exciting vendors and new categories emerging over the last few years, but will touch on a few discrete competencies we believe are strategic and sustainably valuable in this editorial – namely startups attacking the challenges and opportunities associated with i) Supporting efficient, effective and personalized engagement at scale; ii) Enabling and driving the new “product- - 2 -