Why Your Value Proposition Doesn't Resonate (And How to Fix It)
If prospects keep saying 'interesting' but never buy, your value proposition has a resonance problem. Here's how to diagnose and fix it.
“That’s really interesting.”
If you hear this on sales calls more than “How do we get started?” — your value proposition has a resonance problem. The prospect understands what you do. They just don’t feel why it matters to them.
The Resonance Gap
Most health tech companies describe their product in terms of what it does. Features, capabilities, integrations, compliance certifications. All important. None of it makes a buyer feel urgency.
Resonance happens when the prospect hears your value proposition and thinks: “This person understands my problem better than I do.”
Three Tests for Your Value Proposition
Test 1: The “So What?” Test. Read your value proposition out loud. After every sentence, ask “So what?” If you can’t answer with a concrete business outcome, the sentence needs work.
Test 2: The Competitor Swap Test. Replace your company name with a competitor’s name. If the value proposition still works, it’s too generic. You need specificity.
Test 3: The Buyer Language Test. Record five sales calls. Write down the exact words prospects use to describe their problems. If those words aren’t in your value proposition, you’re speaking a different language than your buyers.
Rewriting Your Value Proposition
Start with the pain, not the product. Structure it like this:
“[Your target buyer] struggles with [specific problem]. This costs them [quantified impact]. We [specific mechanism] so they can [desired outcome].”
Example: “Health tech startups struggle to convert pilots into enterprise contracts. This costs them 6-12 months of runway per failed pilot. We coach founders through the enterprise sales process so they close their first five enterprise deals faster and at higher contract values.”
The Real Fix
Your value proposition isn’t a tagline — it’s a living document that evolves every time you learn something new about your buyers. Treat it like code: version it, test it, iterate.
Talk to five customers this week. Ask them why they bought. Their answer is your value proposition.