A value ladder, referred to as a brand ladder or marketing ladder, is a group of offerings that both increase in price and value as you move from left to right. It is usually depicted with a set of stairs.
A value ladder can do so much for you and it’s a must-have for any business owner.
What can a value ladder do for you?
First, a value ladder meets people where they are this way.
By implementing a value ladder, you can increase a customer’s lifetime value (LTV). Providing lower-cost items that increase in value as cost increases allows you to build trust with your audience early in the customer journey and still make some money along the way.
Additionally, you’re meeting the customer needs and adding value, even at the lower level offers. Most value ladders work best when immense value is given even in the early steps. This allows you to show your worth to clients and build trust.
But let’s dive in a little more.
A value ladder is not about squeezing money from people and helping them max out a credit card to two. That’s not the point of a value ladder, even though a lot of marketing “experts” out there will tell you it is.
If you’ve read any of my other blog posts on finding your why (where you identify your niche) or how to take your clients on a journey from prison to paradise, you know that my model of work is very client-centric. That’s not going to change in regard to a value ladder.
The Transformation: From Prison to Paradise
At the heart of a successful value ladder is the transformation you offer your clients. This transformation is about taking your clients from a state of frustration and confusion—what I call the “prison”—to a state of clarity and confidence, their personal “paradise.”
- Understand the Prison State: To build a compelling value ladder, first, empathize with your client’s initial state. What are their challenges? What keeps them up at night? Recognizing these emotions and thoughts is crucial.
- Envision the Paradise State: After engaging with your offerings, what does your client’s transformed life look like? What emotions do they feel? What positive changes have they experienced? This is the essence of the transformation you provide.
“It’s all about maximizing the number of customers and providing value commensurate with that cost all the while building trust as they move through the different phases of the client journey.“
Jeff Green
By centering your value ladder around this prison-to-paradise transformation, you not only enhance the customer journey but also ensure that each step of the ladder delivers tangible, meaningful value. It’s this profound shift that not only meets your clients where they are but also guides them to where they aspire to be, solidifying your role as a trusted partner in their journey.
Second, a value ladder helps you produce happy customers.
Throughout that client journey, “clients to be” will touch various parts of your value ladder steps required to move them from prison to paradise.
“This is an important point, as what your audience and the ideal client really desire is to find internal relief from the problem they are experiencing. Even if and when your customers show up with an external problem, which they will, the underlying problem you need to meet is internal and is found in the look, sound, and feel of your audience.”
Jeff Green
To truly understand and describe the “prison to paradise” transformation for your clients, immerse yourself in their current experiences. Imagine them stepping into your world, weighed down by frustration and confusion. This is their “prison” state, a space where they feel overwhelmed and lack clarity.
Explore the Prison State:
- What does it look like? Visualize their daily struggles.
- What does it sound like? Listen to their internal dialogue and external complaints.
- What does it feel like? Empathize with their emotional turmoil.
- What are they thinking? Dive into their mindset, filled with doubts and fears.
- What are they saying? Capture their expressions of need and desire.
- What are they doing? Observe their actions, often misaligned with their goals.
- What do they believe is right for them? Understand their perception of solutions.
- What do they think will make a difference? Identify their hopes and aspirations.
With this deep understanding, transition to the “paradise” state. Here, your services have transformed their lives. They now experience clarity, confidence, and excitement for the future. This is not just a change in circumstances but a profound shift in their being.
Visualize the Paradise State:
- What does life look like now? Picture their newfound freedom and ease.
- What does it sound like? Their voice is now filled with assurance and positivity.
- What does it feel like? They feel serene, light, and empowered.
- What are they thinking now? Their thoughts are clear and focused.
- What words do they use to describe this transformation? Capture their language of joy and gratitude.
By articulating this journey from “prison” to “paradise,” you connect deeply with your clients’ true desires, offering not just a service but a transformational experience that resonates on a personal level.
Understanding your client’s deeper needs is just the beginning. The true value lies in how you deliver the transformation they seek. It’s not just about offering a single product or service; it’s about providing a flexible process that adapts to their unique journey.
- Splintered Solutions: Consider how your transformation process can be divided into manageable pieces. This approach allows you to cater to various client needs, delivering value incrementally and ensuring accessibility.
- Customization and Personalization: Offering different versions of your process means you can tailor your solutions to fit the specific requirements of each client. This adaptability not only enhances the service experience but also deepens client trust and satisfaction.
- Ongoing Engagement: By allowing clients to access different parts of the transformation over time, you create opportunities for continuous engagement. This incremental delivery helps maintain client interest and fosters long-term relationships.
When you think of your service not just as a product but as a dynamic, evolving process, you unlock the potential for greater impact and more profound client transformation. This holistic approach not only meets the external needs but resonates deeply with the internal desires of your audience.
Maximizing Client Transformation: Going Further, Faster, and Deeper
Do you want to elevate your clients’ journey and enhance the results they achieve with you? Let me break down how you can be the catalyst for profound transformations.
1. Dive Deeper into Understanding Needs
- Start with in-depth assessments to truly understand your clients’ pain points and desires.
- Use surveys and one-on-one consultations to gather specific insights. This tailored information will be the foundation for a personalized transformation journey.
2. Streamline Your Process for Speed
- Consider employing automation tools like HubSpot or Mailchimp to streamline communication and repetitive tasks.
- Create a series of efficient steps that guide clients rapidly from point A to point B, cutting unnecessary complexities that can hinder progress.
3. Enhance Your Offerings for Greater Depth
- Integrate advanced coaching techniques or specialized programs that push boundaries, like NLP (Neuro-Linguistic Programming) or emotional intelligence exercises.
- Encourage clients to engage with supplementary resources, such as webinars, workshops, or collaborative sessions, that reinforce their learning and growth.
4. Continuous Feedback and Adaptation
- Implement a feedback loop with tools like SurveyMonkey to gather insights on what works and what doesn’t.
- Adapt your strategies based on client feedback, ensuring the methods resonate with and are beneficial to them.
5. Build a Supportive Community
- Foster a community around your brand with platforms like Facebook Groups or Discord, allowing clients to share experiences and learn from one another.
- Community engagement creates an environment of collective growth, making the transformation journey more enriching.
By focusing on these strategies, you become more than a service provider—you become a partner in transformation, guiding your clients to reach new heights with unprecedented speed and depth.
The Vital Role of Mindset in Building a Value Ladder
When crafting a value ladder for your business, mindset plays a crucial role. An abundance mindset, as opposed to a scarcity mindset, can be the catalyst for growth and success.
Embracing Abundance
1. Shaping Opportunities:
An abundance mindset encourages you to see possibilities rather than limitations. This perspective allows you to identify potential at every level of your value ladder, from entry-level offers to premium products.
2. Fostering Innovation:
With an open, abundant outlook, you become more receptive to creative solutions and innovations. This can lead to developing unique offerings that set your brand apart.
Overcoming Scarcity
1. Avoiding Fear-Based Decisions:
A scarcity mindset often leads to fear-driven choices that limit your growth. By focusing on abundance, you’re more likely to make confident, strategic decisions that enhance your value ladder.
2. Building Lasting Connections:
Abundance encourages a service-oriented approach, focusing on delivering value and building strong customer relationships. This positions your brand as a trusted partner, rather than just a service provider.
Moving from Scarcity to Abundance
- Set clear intentions for growth.
Define what abundance looks like for your business and outline steps to achieve it. - Surround yourself with positive influences.
Engage with community and thought leaders who inspire and support an abundance mindset. - Cultivate gratitude.
Regularly acknowledge and appreciate the progress and success you’ve achieved, no matter how small.
In summary, adopting an abundance mindset is essential for creating an effective value ladder. It drives innovation, builds valuable relationships, and ultimately, leads to business growth.
How to Attract New Clients While Prioritizing Current Ones
Balancing the pursuit of new clients with outstanding service to existing clients can be challenging. However, this dual focus is crucial for sustainable growth and healthy relationships.
Prioritize Client Relationships
- Understand Client Needs: Begin by genuinely understanding and prioritizing your current clients’ needs. When they feel valued, they naturally become advocates for your services.
- Develop a Client-Centric Mindset: Approach every interaction with a mindset centered around service and assistance.
Build a Value Ladder
- Create a Tiered Offering: Construct a value ladder with various service tiers that cater to different client needs. This not only attracts new clients who might be interested in your entry-level services but also encourages upselling to current clients.
Shift from Scarcity to Abundance
- Adopt an Abundance Mentality: Shift your mental state from scarcity to abundance. Focus on providing exceptional value, which paradoxically draws in new business opportunities. The more value you offer, the more attractive you become to potential clients.
Streamline and Automate
- Leverage Technology: Use CRM tools like HubSpot or Salesforce to streamline client management. Automated follow-ups and client interactions ensure no one feels neglected.
Enable Client Referrals
- Encourage Word of Mouth: Happy clients will naturally refer others. Implement a referral program that rewards clients for bringing in new customers.
Balance Marketing Efforts
- Time Management: Dedicate specific time slots for client work and new business development. By organizing your schedule, you can excel in both areas without compromising your service quality.
By following these strategies, you’ll not only attract new clients but also strengthen the trust and loyalty of your existing ones. Emphasizing abundance and value paves the way for organic growth and long-term success.
Why do you need a value ladder?
As I noted above a value ladder or brand ladder increases the lifetime value of clients. It’s really that simple. Anything that produces an increase in revenue is a must.
For example, how would you like to take your business from where it is and increase your revenue by 30%, 80%, or even 200% by adding value through multiple offerings at different levels?
It can happen. I’ve seen it happen over and over. Take, for instance, John.
John has a business where he provides $750 a month search engine optimization for X, Y, and Z ideal customers. The problem is John gets a lot of leads that say they don’t have $750 to spend or perhaps they don’t trust John enough to spend $750.
If John provided a free offer at the beginning, such as a one-on-one SEO audit with a zoom chat alongside help to the client, that would build a lot of trusts.
Then perhaps that client was given the option to take a $67 interactive online course of John’s creation that would teach said customer to do SEO on their own. Then the outcome would be two-fold.
Increased trust is built at each step. Additionally, the client get’s more comfortable with John with each interaction, which moves the client journey along.
However, that’s not where this story ends.
On the client-side, they also receive loads more value than the free 45-minute SEO audit. They are learning to do SEO themselves with John’s online course.
Each client gets to spend hours listening to John.
In John’s business, he makes a little money on the sale he would have otherwise not made if he only offered the $750 price point.
But there’s more. What if John then offered an upgrade to the SEO course? Perhaps it would be $97 a month, and the customer would receive one-on-one access to John for a limited amount of time each month.
Maybe John decides to provide help for 90-minute group calls to those in this upgrade twice a month. This increases customer perceived value as they now have direct access to John. It also increases the lifetime value of each customer as there are points on the ladder below $750 for each customer.
Expanding Opportunities Through Add-Ons
Consider how you might take John’s strategy further. What if you could extend your current offerings to go further, faster, and deeper into what your clients need? By breaking down your product into modules or splinters, you can cater to different customer needs and budgets, thereby broadening your market reach.
- Upgraded Packages: Introduce premium packages that offer more extensive features or services, much like John’s group calls. These can significantly boost your average order value, sometimes doubling or even tripling it.
- Modular Offers: Offer your core services in smaller, more affordable segments so that clients can purchase what they need when they need it, gradually building up to the full package.
- Enhanced Client Experience: By providing these options, you enhance the client experience through personalized choices and perceived value. This not only satisfies existing clients but also attracts new ones.
With these strategies, your business can grow substantially, leveraging the same number of transactions to achieve greater returns. By integrating thoughtful add-ons and upselling opportunities, your average order value could indeed explode, just as John’s may, creating a win-win for both you and your clients.
I think you get the picture at the end of the customer journey. The final step in the value ladder is John’s bullseye offer, which is his $750 a month SEO package. When John only offered the bullseye he was leaving a lot of money on the table and lowering his potential customer reach. Don’t do this.
Plus, this is very important, John has now built trust with his prospects under multiple touchpoints, which makes it far easier to sell the bullseye offer.
The scenario above alone paints an all-in picture of why you need a value ladder in your business. But what are the other reasons to implement a value ladder?
Why else do you need a value ladder?
As I said, multiple times throughout that illustration, it builds trust. This really can’t be overlooked.
The Psychology of buying and customer behavior
The psychology of buying and customer behavior is a quite an interesting field, but not in the ballpark of this discussion. However, it’s been shown that to get a customer, to pay top dollar (your bullseye or top-of-the-ladder offer) there must be trust.
In other words, people vote with their money.
If they’re not paying you, they’re not ready to vote or they vote against you. You have to put customers in a situation where they feel comfortable spending money because spending money leads to spending more money, which leads to two things.
And this is important.
It leads to a better outcome for your client in the end, because there’s more value as they spend money. Your free offer will never help them to the same extent that a paid bulldog offer will help them. You know, this and deep down inside, they know this, but part of the customer journey is walking through the process of understanding this.
When considering how products can be broken into blocks to offer varied value, think of your product not just as a singular offering but as a flexible system. This system can be deconstructed and distributed in various forms to meet diverse customer needs.
Breaking Down the Process
- Segment the Process: Identify distinct steps or components within your product or service. Each segment can be offered independently, providing opportunities for customization. For instance, a fitness program might be divided into nutrition guidance, exercise routines, and progress tracking.
- Partial Deliverables: You can deliver portions of your process while providing meaningful outcomes. Companies like Adobe offer software by function, allowing users to purchase individual tools like Photoshop or Illustrator, depending on their specific requirements.
- Custom Packages: Tailor offerings by combining different blocks. For instance, a business could purchase modules of a software suite based on its operational needs, much like how Microsoft 365 allows selecting various products such as Word, Excel, and Teams.
Transformational Value
By fragmenting your product, you widen the scope for its application, allowing for flexibility. Customers can access exactly what they need, which increases satisfaction and broadens your market reach. Similar to meal kits that offer recipes split into individual components, enabling consumers to choose based on dietary preferences or time constraints.
In summary, breaking a single product into blocks lets you leverage variations to maximize its appeal and utility, creating a wider array of options for your clientele.
Strategies to Enhance the Value of Every Sale
Boosting the value of each sale is essential for maximizing revenue without increasing your customer base. Here’s how you can achieve that:
1. Enhance Product Offerings
- Upgrade and Bundle: Look for ways to improve your current products. Consider what features or enhancements could justify a higher price point. Package products together at a discount to increase perceived value.
- Upsell and Cross-sell: Introduce complementary products that align with the customer’s initial purchase. Amazon, for example, effectively suggests related items that increase overall sale value.
2. Add Value through Services
- Premium Support: Offer different tiers of customer support. A superior service level can command a higher price and ensures a better customer experience.
- Personalization: Tailor your offerings to meet specific customer needs. Customization boosts the perceived value as it directly addresses a customer’s unique requirements.
3. Educational Content and Resources
- Workshops and Training: Provide tutorials, webinars, or workshops that help customers maximize the use of your product. Adobe offers creative software training, which adds value and fosters brand loyalty.
- Guides and Ebooks: Supply informative content that complements your product, enhancing its usability or making it easier for the customer to integrate it into their routine.
4. Flexible Payment Options
- Financing Plans: Introduce flexible payment plans or financing options that make higher-priced offerings more accessible, encouraging larger purchases.
- Subscriptions or Memberships: Develop a subscription model where customers pay over time. This ensures consistent revenue and adds ongoing value through regular updates or exclusive content.
5. Leverage Feedback and Relationships
- Customer Feedback Integration: Use customer feedback to enhance your offerings, ensuring value aligns with customer expectations and needs. This will increase satisfaction and loyalty.
- Strengthen Relationships: Foster long-term relationships by showing genuine interest in solving your customers’ problems. Personalized follow-ups and loyalty programs can build advocacy and repeat business.
Incorporating these strategies not only increases the average transaction value but also strengthens your bond with customers, turning them into enthusiastic advocates for your brand. In the long run, this approach transforms your business into a more attractive, reliable choice for potential clients.
How to Encourage More Repeat Business and Referrals from Existing Clients
Building lasting relationships with your clients is key to encouraging repeat business and earning referrals. Here’s how you can make that happen:
Cultivate Authentic Relationships
To foster repeat business, focus on genuine interactions. Reconnect with past clients by engaging them in meaningful conversations about their current needs and goals. Show genuine interest in their lives and businesses beyond just the transactions.
Prioritize Client Needs
Shift your focus away from selling and towards fulfilling your clients’ immediate needs. When you approach clients, prioritize understanding their current challenges and explore how you can support them effectively.
Listen Actively
Active listening can be a game-changer. Pay close attention to what your clients are saying, and read between the lines for unspoken needs. Use this insight to tailor your offerings or provide personalized solutions that add value to their projects or lives.
Deliver Exceptional Service
Providing outstanding service goes a long way in building trust. Whether it’s through timely communication, expert advice, or quality deliverables, ensure that every interaction strengthens your relationship with clients.
Stay Engaged
Keep in touch regularly, without overwhelming them. A well-timed follow-up or a thoughtful check-in can show clients that you value their relationship, keeping you top-of-mind when they or their network needs your services.
Ask for Feedback
Encourage feedback to improve your offerings. Not only does this show clients that you care about their experience, but it also gives you insights to refine your services and meet their evolving needs better.
Encourage Referrals
Once you’ve established a strong rapport, ask satisfied clients for referrals. You can make it easy by providing them with simple ways to recommend your services, such as a referral link or business card.
Create a Loyalty Program
Consider offering a loyalty program with discounts or rewards for repeat business and referrals. This can incentivize clients to return to you and share your services with their network.
By prioritizing these strategies, you’ll not only encourage repeat business but also turn your clients into enthusiastic advocates who are more likely to refer others to you.
The Value Ladder helps organize the customer journey.
You’re able to meet people where there are if you’ve ever seen conceptualizations of the marketing funnel, there’s a whole slew of different versions. Most will look something like the picture above.
Most marketing funnels will be broken into at least three parts. Awareness or some other word like that depicts a similar concept. Next, you have consideration and research. And finally, a decision is made by your customer. Check out our post on marketing for lawyers too.
With a value ladder, you create offers at different levels, which help the buyer journey along.
Awareness
Awareness in the value ladder is akin to something like a free offer. It also serves the purpose of helping your business brand itself.
Consideration
Consideration on the other, hand might be a low price offer, or maybe it’s another free offer.
Research
Research is your lead offer or a mid-tier offer on your value ladder.
It’s when they’re testing the waters and trying to find it, if you’re the real deal or not.
Conversion
And finally, the bullseye offer is the conversion part of the funnel. It’s where your potential customer is ready to pay top dollar. Why? Because they know through your messaging that you are the only person that can satisfy their needs.
You’re the only person that can do it the way they need it done. And therefore they’re willing to pay you more than they want to pay you to remove the pain that they feel.
Therein is an important point. Having tiered offers in the value ladder allows people to jump in or to taste the product. At a minimum cost or investment to themselves, in the end, this helps move potential clients through the customer journey.
One thing that’s interesting about the funnel image provided above is if you turn it on its side, you can build a value ladder out of it. As shown below.
Value Ladder Examples & Thoughts
I wanted to uncover a few final points to note regarding the value ladder and common mistakes.
You should focus on an internal problem that your audience has.
I’ve written about this extensively in my prison to paradise and finding your why articles. It’s foundational to understanding the inner life of a value ladder and in my humble opinion must-read material.
Often of times what people really need and what they think they need are incongruent. For example, a client may believe they need you to fix their website copy, but in all honesty, the internal problem that they’re struggling with is that they need to make more money or get more leads.
You will want to sell them on the emotional problem. This is discussed in depth within the must-read article on the customer journey. Then and only then can you give them the external solution that they need. This is what creates a happy customer and in doing so, it changes the way they think about themself and the experience itself.
“You need to design offers and copy that meet and focus on the internal outcome rather than what your client thinks they need or the external outcome.”
Jeff Green
If you found the problem you solve through finding your niche and then learned to move customers from prison to paradise, this will get you there. Well, let’s walk through a few examples of a value ladder that someone like yourself might try to build. And some of the hotspots throughout that can cause problems.
Example 1- The Accountants Value Ladder
First, what problem does an accountant solve? Fairly simple. They provide financial support to individuals and businesses. Hopefully, if you are Jim, our accountant, you have worked through finding your niche and you are more specific in your answer.
Jim takes care of bookkeeping and the accounting for artists that sell products online. He has worked through the ins and outs of his specific ideal customer journey. His value ladder looks something like the below.
Free Offer(s)– Jim has 14 free offers for potential clients. They range from checklists for the end of year to tutorials and eBooks on how to setup Freshbooks for your accounting.
Low Tier Offer– The businesses offers a 47 dollar set of accounting templates for those interested in keeping their own books.
Mid Tier Offer(s)– Jim has 2 courses that you can get for $247. One is a course that teaches you to do bookkeeping using Freshbooks. It contains worksheets, homework, actionable items, and over 17 hours of video learning. He has another course that provides similar value on a different topic.
Mid Tier Offer(s)– Jim also provides a 1 on 1 upgrade with each of his courses that are priced at $197 for two 90 minute group Q&A sessions every two weeks.
Bulls-eye Offer– Finally the accounting firm provides both monthly subscriptions for bookkeeping services and the filing of business taxes. The cost varies based on the complexity of the business, however, rates start at 247 per month for bookkeeping and 497 for base business taxes.
Example 2: Online Coaches Value Ladder
Nicole is an online business coach who was struggling in business prior to creating a value ladder and niching down. Her business has never been better after implementing our must-read articles on finding your why, the customer journey, and implementing a value ladder.
Nicole works with solopreneurs, entrepreneurs that work alone, specifically she works with solopreneurs in engineering vertical.
Free Offer(s)– Nicole has built, through a commitment to a creative mindset, 21 “lead magnets”. These allow potential clients to get help for free and likewise get to experience Nicole’s expertise.
Low Tier Offer– Nicole is an author and has written a book about finding your ideal clients on LinkedIn. She sells the book to prospects in exchange for an email and $7.
Mid Tier Offer A- Online classes on how to improve your lead generation and marketing for consultants in the engineering vertical. It sells for $397 per month and includes all 9 of Nicole’s courses on the subject.
Mid Tier Offer-At this level the value increases and Nicole provides a 4-hour package where she helps engineering solpreneurs (usually consultants) learn to market themselves more effectively. The cost of these 4 hour in-person or zoom sessions is $997.
Bulls-eye Offer– This ongoing marketing and coaching help is done with you. The packages start with a 90-day package that auto-renews without cancellation. It includes Nicole’s proven system to move you from prison to paradise and up to 8 hours of 1 on 1 work per month. The cost is $4947 for 90 days.
Take Action- Build a Value Ladder
Okay. Don’t just let this sit as knowledge in your head. My, I would encourage you to download my value ladder, worksheet, and tutorial to help you walk through this process. And what do you know? It’s free.
Start with the Transformation
Begin by envisioning the transformation your clients will experience. What does their current “prison” state look, sound, and feel like? Contrast this with their desired “paradise” state. This transformation is the heart of your value ladder.
Map Out the Journey
Consider your unique process for guiding clients from one state to the other. How can you help them go further, faster, and deeper? Break down your products or services into manageable blocks that naturally lead clients through this journey.
Expand Your Offerings
- Upsell: Identify opportunities to offer more advanced or premium versions of your products.
- Cross-sell: Suggest complementary products or services that enhance the customer experience.
- Related Offers: Develop new products that align with your existing offerings.
Build Strong Client Relationships
Focus on nurturing relationships with existing clients to encourage repeat business and referrals. These connections are vital for sustaining and growing your business.
Increase Sale Value
Think about ways to increase the value of each sale. If your average sale is $1,000, what would it take to make that $3,000 or even $5,000? Concentrate on adding value rather than just increasing prices.
Create a Value-Driven Ecosystem
Once you have this remarkable process and value ladder in place, you’ll naturally start attracting new clients. This ecosystem should offer an outstanding, value-driven journey that turns prospects into loyal customers.
Download the value ladder worksheet to help you visualize and implement these steps effectively. By focusing on these strategies, you’ll craft a compelling ladder of products and services that captivate and retain your clients.
