Best Practice in Value Propositions
by Helen Curtis, Director for Coterie Marketing
What will we cover?
“How to build compelling Value Propositions”
A step by step guide to building value propositions
that you’ll be proud of!
A brief introduction
“We believe in changing the way the IT
industry does partner and proposition
marketing, for the better.”
Helen Curtis
Coterie Marketing work
in association with
About Proposition Marketing
Proposition Marketing defined
“A Value Proposition (VP) is a statement that
clearly identifies what benefits a customer
will receive by purchasing a particular
product or service from a particular
vendor/s.”
Consider these two phrases
‘Simple Fix for
Blown Head
Gaskets’
vs.
‘Repairs Blown
Head Gaskets in
Just One Hour’
Features of an effective Value Proposition
A tangible
difference in a
characteristic of
your product or
service
Being extremely
focused in the
market you serve
Having laser beamlike focus and
consistency in
living and
promoting your
value
Keeping the
message simple
Common mistakes when creating Value Propositions
• Being too technical
• Not showing that you understand the
customers business and their challenges
• Not showing how you differentiate
• Not explaining the benefits to the end user
– what is in it for them?
• Not presenting the benefits of working
together
• Mistaking a slogan for a value proposition
• Neglecting quantitative information
Seven simple steps
#1 What is the overall message?
• What is your headline message?
• What is your USP?
• How does the proposition answer the question?
#2 What problem are you helping solve?
What challenges are facing the customer?
• What do we know about the customer?
• What are their biggest challenges?
• What are they currently doing about it?
• What is working/not working?
• What are the characteristics of the customer?
Coterie TIP
“ Is there any market
insight that can
validate these
challenges? “
#3 How are you responding to the challenges?
• What is your joint proposition?
• What solutions do you have to answer the
customer challenges?
• How does your partner’s portfolio help you
make a difference?
Coterie TIP
“Each element of the proposition should be articulated
with clear deliverables. Every statement should be backed
up with a solid proof point linked back to the Partner /
Customer need i.e. why you are doing it in the first place;
any market insight that can validate these challenges? “
#4 How do you deliver your solution?
How are going to deliver the joint proposition?
Is there a methodology?
What is that you do that your competitors don’t do?
How do you work with your customers?
#5 Your corporate CV
What people and
skills do you have?
How do your teams
of experts add
value to the
customer offering?
What makes you
the experts in
delivering this?
How do you share
knowledge with
your partners?
Coterie TIP
“Try to make this section as tangible
as possible and really sell the USP of
working with you. E.g. don’t just list
the number of people you have trained
but what this means for the
Partner/End-Customer, why this is
different from the competition etc.”
#6 What makes you different?
What’s the one thing
that makes you
different from the
competition?
As well as your
technical expertise,
why would a customer
want to buy from you
over anyone else?
What might stop them
buying from you?
Coterie TIP
“Make sure you answer the ‘so what’?’
question i.e. what makes you different
and why should I care? Link all your
statements back to the needs of the
Partner and the benefits this will bring
them“
#7 Endorsement
Coterie TIP
“Case studies / testimonials can be
hard to achieve. If no approved ones
exist for your proposition – how about
creating an anonymous ‘scenario’ to
demonstrate how your solution would
play out in the real world and how this
would benefit the customer day-to-day”
Think... where, who, what, how and why
Proposition checklist
Where
Where are we? Review of the Strengths, Weaknesses, Threats and Issues the business face
Who
Who is the target market? Who within the customer do we want to contact? Can we prioritize these
sectors?
What
What are the issues that are impacting these sectors? What are the external factors driving the need for
the proposition? What is keeping the CTO/CIO of these businesses up at night?
How
How can we help them? What is the value proposition to the target clients? Do we think they need to do
something different? What do we think that should be? What are the benefits? What does the Proposition ‘do’
for the target market that is unique, better, different from the other choices? Which is the one most important
‘benefit’ from the customer’s perspective?
Why
Why will they listen to us? Can we bring an external party (vendors) or customer into our story? Why are
we qualified to have an opinion and help them? What are we competing against? What is the one most
significant option the target audience has other than your Proposition? May they also choose the option of
doing nothing? What specific feature(s) can we present superior value over?
Examples
Summary
Value Proposition design will help you successfully:
Understand the patterns of value creation
Leverage the experience and skills of your team
Design, test and deliver what customers want
Suggested reading:
Value Proposition Design: How to Create
Products and Services Customers Want (Strategyzer)
Get in touch…
Helen Curtis
Director for Coterie Marketing
e: [email protected]
m: + 44(0)7725 758989
uk.linkedin.com/in/helenacurtis