Many B2B firms struggle to stand out from the noise. The answer? TMP Pro: a practical methodology to identify your point of difference.

1. Growing B2B
success on a stronger
value proposition
TMP PRO: proposition refinement and optimisation
A practical methodology to
identify your point of difference

2. Are you
different,
really?
B2B vendors want to become more
than just suppliers. They’re expanding
their portfolios and positioning
themselves as strategic partners.
It’s an ambitious goal, and one that
makes it hard to stand out. As a
result, most B2B offerings look and
sound the same. And the blame often
sits with marketing.
When campaign messaging attempts
to say too much, it can lose focus. It
can lack clarity. It can become just
part of the noise.
The impact is two-fold. Buyers feel
confused and frustrated. Sales teams
find it harder to close deals.

3. Find your
‘you’
For us, successful sales and
marketing starts with one thing: a
clear and distinct value proposition.
It’s the foundation that should
underpin every sales conversation,
every marketing message and
every awareness campaign.
It’s your identity. It’s what helps
your organisation stand out in a
crowded market.
And we have a proven methodology
to help find and refine yours.
What do we mean by a ‘proposition’?
Many B2B organisations mistake their proposition for their
product or service. Which rarely explains the true ‘value’
for the customer. A clear and distinct proposition will vary
according to your specific marketing objective. For example:
Brand proposition
The story your overall business wants to tell
Business proposition
The story for a specific product, solution or service
Campaign proposition
The story within a particular campaign or launch

4. We all want clarity
So, TMP believes in the value of a clear
and distinct proposition. But what do
suppliers and buyers think?
We partnered with Marketing Week to survey
hundreds of B2B marketers on what makes
effective marketing.
This revealed some key insights:
1 in 3
organisations believe campaigns
fail due to flaws in positioning
Only 35%
of organisations believe that
they are well differentiated
The value proposition
was rated in the top two drivers
of marketing effectiveness
We’ve also conducted research to
find out what senior enterprise IT
buyers think of their suppliers’
marketing efforts.
Here’s what B2B buyers want more of:
• Detail and passion about a product
or service
• An interest in their challenges and
requirements
• Shared, honest learnings from
previous projects
• Actionable insight on
industry trends
• Practical knowhow on mitigating
the risk of change
• A clear and stress-free route to
purchase
In short, it all comes
down to clarity.
• Buyers want a clear understanding of why
you are the right choice for their business
• As a supplier, you need to make that as
easy to understand for them as possible
Which starts with the value proposition.

5. So why is
it so hard?
Most value propositions
don’t work because:
• They lack depth; important detail is lost
in favour of conciseness
• They don’t have a strong opinion or clear
point of view
• The needs and complexities of the
audience aren’t properly explored
• They don’t focus enough on commercial
impacts or business outcomes
• Evidence of success is limited to just a
few case studies
• They don’t use competitor or market
insights to demonstrate a clear difference

6. Phase 1 Phase 2 Phase 3
Let’s get
to your
heart
At TMP, we’ve taken hundreds of
complex propositions to market over
the years.
From crafting high-level brand
stories for global telecoms operators,
to identifying niche demand-gen
hooks for SaaS firms, we love
getting to the heart of what makes
our clients unique.
We use TMP PRO – our practical
three-phase approach to proposition
refinement and optimisation – to
drive real commercial outcomes.
Building an
understanding
Our starting point is to talk with knowledge
holders and experts, both inside and outside
your organisation, to uncover the strengths and
differentiators of your proposition.
We also carry out research on competitors and
relevant sector trends. And we tap into the
intelligence that our Demand Generation team
has gathered from previous campaigns and
activity. All of which helps with the next phase.
30- to 60-minute telephone
interviews with:
• Solution architects
• Salespeople
• Implementation and delivery teams
• Purchasing decision makers

7. Let’s get
to your
heart
At TMP, we’ve taken hundreds of
complex propositions to market
over the years.
From crafting high-level brand
stories for global telecoms operators,
to identifying niche demand-gen
hooks for SaaS firms, we love
getting to the heart of what makes
our clients unique.
And we use TMP PRO – our
practical three-phase approach to
proposition refinement and
optimisation – to drive real
commercial outcomes.
Phase 1 Phase 2 Phase 3
Defining your difference
This is where we start drawing
out the key insights from the
research and knowledge into
something tangible.
First, we look at your overall
positioning in the market to
identify where you win versus
the competition.
Then we get really specific on
what you want to achieve – and
we do this using the Get (Who)
To By model. Think of it as
shorthand for your strategic
direction (for internal use only).
A clear framework to develop distinct messaging:
• Get your audience, who are currently thinking/doing “X”
• To see the value of “Y”, and thereby consider your proposition
• By showing/telling/educating them about “Z”
Next up, we formulate a value proposition statement.
This should clearly articulate why customers will care
about your offering.
The value proposition statement may include:
• How you tackle customer problems
• Why you are relevant to them now
• What you want them to do about it
To further help your sales conversations, we also create
an elevator pitch – which builds on the value proposition
to tell more of your story.
And to cover off the nuances for different audiences, we’ll
build out bespoke industry and persona messaging too.

8. Let’s get
to your
heart
At TMP, we’ve taken hundreds of
complex propositions to market
over the years.
From crafting high-level brand
stories for global telecoms operators,
to identifying niche demand-gen
hooks for SaaS firms, we love
getting to the heart of what makes
our clients unique.
And we use TMP PRO – our
practical three-phase approach to
proposition refinement and
optimisation – to drive real
commercial outcomes.
Phase 1 Phase 2 Phase 3
Making it actionable
A proposition deck or “playbook” for sales
and marketing teams, including:
• Audience insights
• Value proposition statement
• Messaging framework
• Commercial proof points
• Relevant case studies
• Sales and marketing tactics and execution
Following this work, we help you develop a
detailed go-to-market plan, based on activities
that have proven to be effective for similar
propositions and challenges.
Here’s where we share with you the
proposed messaging, refine it together,
and supply you with all the evidence and
thinking we have used. The aim is to get
agreement with your key stakeholders that
the new proposition is robust and practical
for long-term use.

9. Get in touch
Taking a new message or solution to the market? Need to refresh your
existing narrative and communications? Looking to improve the effectiveness
of your campaigns?
Our team of strategists and marketing consultants would be happy to explain
how TMP PRO could help refine and optimise your own propositions.
Please contact:
Oli Marshall, Head of Strategy
omarshall@themarketingpractice.com
01235 433421
Ally Bancroft, Global Client Practice Director
abancroft@themarketingpractice.com
01235 433498
Steve Johnson, Client Services Director, UK
sjohnson@themarketingpractice.com
01235 433436
“Sage and PwC have a successful
alliance to implement Sage X3,
but we lacked a clear narrative
about the benefits. TMP helped
us articulate the alliance and
convert it into a compelling story
to support our next campaign.”
Laura Hansford, Sage