Best Practice in Value Propositions

by Helen Curtis, Director for Coterie Marketing

“How to build compelling Value Propositions”

A step by step guide to building value propositions

that you’ll be proud of!

What will we cover?

Helen Curtis

Coterie Marketing work

in association with

“We believe in changing the way the IT

industry does partner and proposition marketing, for the better.”

A brief introduction

About Proposition Marketing

“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.”

Proposition Marketing defined

Consider these two phrases

vs.‘Simple Fix for

Blown Head

Gaskets’

‘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 beam-

like 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

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.”

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?

#6 What makes you different?

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“

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?

#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

WhoWho is the target market? Who within the customer do we want to contact? Can we prioritize these

sectors?

WhatWhat 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 CurtisDirector for Coterie Marketing

e: helen@coteriemarketing.comm: + 44(0)7725 758989

uk.linkedin.com/in/helenacurtis