What's On My Mind This First Working Day Of 2018?

Value Proposition.  I know we are familiar with the term and we use it ever so often. But what does it mean? It is an innovation, service, or feature intended to make a company or product attractive to customers. Some say it is a promise of value to be delivered, communicated, and acknowledged or a belief from the customer about how value (benefit) will be delivered, experienced and acquired. Great definitions. I call it a tangible expression of who you are or what you are all about. Whichever way you want to look at it, it represents a promise that would make your audience listen to you and do what you want them to do towards you. So, what is your value proposition? What are you offering that should make anyone look your way and patronize you?

There are essentially four elements to a properly crafted value proposition statement, irrespective of the type of business you do or the segment you are catering to etc. Top on the list is customer insight. Crafting a proposition should start from understanding the problems your customer / clients are currently experiencing. What problems do they want you to solve for them? Remember that value proposition could be an innovation or anything intended to make your customer perceive you to be creating value. So, it is important that we know our customers well enough to appreciate the problems they want us to solve for them which if indeed solved, would stimulate adoption and more usage.

Secondly is the concept of ‘promise of value’. Your value proposition must contain a promise of value that resonates with your customer / clients. It’s about benefits that will add value to your customers, that solution that will solve the problems picked from the insights and trends and it’s about giving them reason why they should care about the solution you are proposing.

Thirdly, is the concept of competitive edge. Your value proposition must demonstrate a point of edge that you have compared to your competitors in the market. Remember that you are not the only one offering the service / solution you are proposing. You must therefore clearly show the actions you have put in place to deliver on the promise you are making.

Finally, it’s about trust and reason to believe you. Your customer / client would often ask – why should I believe you? This question will always come up and this explains why we have to always make efforts to demonstrate that we have them covered – usually by quantifying the benefits you offer using the language of the customer.

In conclusion, a good value proposition must be developed from the perspective of the customer, with a clear promise that is distinctive and achievable, provide a strong reason for patronage and prove it – provide proof that you can deliver on your promise and back it up with quantifiable benefits.