Retuning Your Value Proposition

Retuning Your Value Proposition
Lisa Dennis, President
Knowledgence Associates

Agenda
1. “Standard” to “Customer-Driven” value
propositions
2. Defining the customer objective
3. Framing your offer with specifics
4. Create action in the customer’s mind
5. Drafting a value proposition that is retuned
for the economy
© 2015 Knowledgence Associates, All Rights Reserved

Economy is Challenging!!
 Putting pressure on a variety of marketing &
sales factors:
– Price
– Perception of value
– How you communicate
with prospects
& customers
– Your current
Value Proposition
may be ready to blow!

Opportunity to Retune
 Now is the time to “retune” for the economy
Refocused Communication
Strategy for Tactics for
Defining Increased
Value Response© 2015 Knowledgence Associates, All Rights Reserved

What is a
Value Proposition?

Basic Value Proposition Defined
Clear and succinct statement
indicating the specific value
of a service or product or offer
to a specific audience in order
to differentiate its value

Putting an “Economy” Spin on It
Customer-focused description of value
that demonstrates your knowledge about
the customer’s experience or challenge
and your specific offer to address it,
underscored by what differentiates
your offer from any other.

Insert Your
Own Face
Here!
What if I was your customer?

Value Propositions
Whose face
should be in
this mirror?
From whose
perspective
should value be
described?

Value Propositions
It’s NOT about your
company and your
offer – it’s about the
customer seeing
themselves.
Insert
Customer
Here
Whose face should
be in this mirror?
From whose
perspective should
value be described?

3 Types of Value Propositions
 Benefits Driven
 Alternative Driven
 Customer Driven
FUNCTION
Does this
And this
And this
BENEFIT
# 1
# 2
# 3
FEATURE
# 1
# 2
# 3

Type 1
 Benefits Driven
FUNCTION
Does this
And this
And this
BENEFIT
# 1
# 2
# 3
FEATURE
# 1
# 2
# 3
Why should I buy your
product?• List of benefits may be very similar to competitors
• Doesn’t adequately answer the key question above
• Focus is on your company and offerings

Type 1
Benefits Driven
FUNCTION
Does this
And this
And this
BENEFIT
# 1
# 2
# 3
FEATURE
# 1
# 2
# 3
Approach
• Requires product
knowledge
• List all benefits you
believe will be delivered
to the customer
• Lots of benefits = value
• Easy to construct
Challenges
• Feature/Benefit confusion
• Based on product-centric
assumptions
• Doesn’t require much
customer knowledge
• May not actually be a valid
benefit to customer

Type 2
 Alternatives Driven
Why should I buy your product
instead of your competitor’s?
• Without knowledge of customer’s needs, can’t
figure out what are TRULY differentiating points
• Focus is on YOU and your competitor

Type 2
Alternatives Driven
Approach
• Acknowledges customer
alternatives & differentiates
• Takes the customer question
to the next level
• Requires product knowledge
• Requires detailed
understanding of competitor
offering
Challenges
• Differentiation doesn’t
automatically communicate value
• Doesn’t require much customer
knowledge
• Assumes differentiators must have
value to customer
• Which point(s) of difference is
most important to customer?

Type 3
 Customer Driven
What is most important for me to
consider in making a decision?
• What’s different, what’s comparable and what’s
unclear about all offers
• Need to know what customer actually values

Type 3
Customer Driven
Approach
• Focus on customer-defined
value
• Isolates key points of
difference & 1 required
competitor similarity
• Requires product knowledge
• Requires competitor
knowledge
• Requires defining value to
customer
Challenges
• Needs to be simple but powerful
• Assumptions are not credible
• Have to know what matters most
to the customer
• Value has to be provable
• Need to put in customer terms
• Less is more

Here’s what counts:
 KNOWING who the customer is for your offer
 UNDERSTANDING what they care about
 SPEAKING in their language
 CREATING the right message for the customer
 LINKING your offer to their objective
 LEAD WITH THE CUSTOMER,
NOT YOUR PRODUCT OR SERVICE!

Pitfalls
Don’t Assume that:
 You know our customer’s goals, motives,
and needs
 Your customer understands your goals,
motives and efforts
Beware:
 “Telling everything you know”

Format and Language Shift
Offer Centric
 Offer description
 Why you need it
 Why IT’S THE BEST
OFFER!
Customer Centric
 Customer experience
or situation
 Our offer for THAT
experience or situation
 Why THIS OFFER
rather than other
options
From To

The “Secret Sauce”
 Communicating your company’s “story” in
customer language
 More easily persuaded by things that are familiar or
similar to us
 Don’t let prospects figure out if your product or
service is a fit BY THEMSELVES

The Val Prop Test
1. What customer objective does your company help
its clients achieve?
2. What is the specific offer to answer your
customer’s needs?
3. Why would a customer select your company over
the other possible market alternatives?

Connect to CUSTOMER
Imperatives
 Key emotional needs
 Ease of use
 Increased $
 Faster time to market
 Decreased cost
 Improved efficiency
 Increased market
share
 Decreased employee
turnover
 Improved customer
satisfaction

Telling a Story
 Connect the value proposition of your
project, product, program to one of these
concerns
 Communicate how your offer addresses
their concern in specific terms
 Attach to proof (testimonials, 3rd
party quote,
survey results, case study, white paper)

Connecting the Dots…
 Get more benefits than give up in costs
 Tangible and intangible factors
 Understanding the customer’s value
drivers
 Align your language and metrics with the
customer’s

Benefits
Driven
Alternatives
Driven
Customer
Driven
Includes All benefits of
your product
Differentiators
versus next best
alternatives
Points that deliver the
most customer-
defined value
Answers Why should I
buy your
product?
Why should I
buy your
product
instead of
competitor’s?
What is most
important for me to
consider in making a
decision?
Requires Product
Knowledge
Product and
competitor
knowledge
Product, competitor,
and customer
knowledge
Issue Benefit
assumptions
Value
assumptions
Depends on customer
research

Multiple Markets = Multiple Value
Propositions
Corporate Value
Proposition
Segment 1
Value Proposition
Segment 2
Value Proposition
Product 1
Product 2
Product 2
• Customer objective
• Our Offer
• Key Differentiator(s)
Segment 3
Value Proposition
Product 1
Product 2
Core
Segments
Service 1
Product 3Service 1
Service 3

Beware of…
 Making it all about your product or service
 Making statements that are generic
 Using 1 value proposition for all customer
segments or all products
 Not offering proof
 Sounding too esoteric or generic
 Using too much industry lingo

“So What” Standard Descriptors
 Most advanced
 Rated best-in-class or “best-of-breed”
 We’re number 1
 We’re the “one-stop-shop” for all your needs
 Offer a full suite of services
 Reduce costs and improve efficiencies
 The industry leader
 Customer-Focused

Strong Value Propositions
• Center on customer’s experience, not product or service
• Communicate customer benefits, not product or service
• Focus on uniqueness and specifics, not generalities
• Include external and internal drivers
• Cover both qualitative and quantitative factors
• Are both believable & demonstrable

Connecting the Dots…
 Understanding the customer’s value
drivers
 Align your language and metrics with the
customer’s
 Get more benefits than give up in costs
 Tangible and intangible factors

Consider ALL the Buying
Stages
 Which stage are you speaking to?

 Can’t speak to them all at once!
LoyaltyPurchase
PreferenceConsiderationAwareness

Validation – Fleshing it Out
Value Drivers:
 What are the most important values to the
customer that we can address?
Quantification:
 How do we quantify the value in a real or
measurable way?
Proof:
 How do we validate this in a believable
manner?

Making Value Driver Choices
Select a type, communicate it in customer
language, quantify it and offer proof.
AnalysisAnalysisRegulationsRegulationsChallengesChallengesObjectivesObjectives
NegotiationValidationEducationJustification

Extends the Value Proposition
 Forces discipline of figuring out what ARE
the key value drivers for our customer?
 If you can’t quantify it…is it important? Is it
real?
 Proof is about credibility – which is about 3rd
party validation. Quotes, testimonials,
Outside Studies, Tests, Reviews, Surveys.

 Customer Objective
 Offer

Differentiator(s)
Value Drivers
Quantification
Proof

Benefits
Driven
Alternatives
Driven
Customer
Driven
Includes All benefits of
your product
Differentiators
versus next best
alternatives
Points that deliver the
most customer-
defined value
Answers Why should I
buy your
product?
Why should I
buy your
product
instead of
competitor’s?
What is most
important for me to
consider in making a
decision?
Requires Product
Knowledge
Product and
competitor
knowledge
Product, competitor,
and customer
knowledge
Issue Benefit
assumptions
Value
assumptions
Depends on customer
research

Thank you!
 Lisa Dennis
 President
 Knowledgence Associates
 Ldennis@knowledgence.com
 O: 617-661-8250
 M: 617- 901-7366

Knowledgence Offer
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and Service
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that makes perfect sense in the abstract, but is
hard to do in the reality. Presents strategies &
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Price: $19.00
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