What Is a Value Proposition?

In very simple terms, your value proposition is a statement to customers showing them why you are valuable to them. It is a summary that explains why customers should buy your product or service and not your competitors’.

Your value proposition should be simple to understand and customers should be able to identify it straightaway from your marketing collateral, your website homepage and even from your social media accounts.

“Your value proposition will explain why you are valuable to your customers, why they should buy from you and what your products or service offers that is different to everything else out there. 

How To Write a Value Proposition

Now that we have given you the definition of a value proposition, here are some important techniques to keep in mind when writing your value proposition:

  • The Seven Why’s. There is an old technique that was originally developed as part of the Toyota lean manufacturing process in Japan called the “7 Why’s”. It says that if you truly want to get to the root of an issue, ask the question “why” seven times. Start by asking yourself (perhaps with some friends and colleagues) why your product, service or approach is unique. When you get the answer, ask “why” six more times. In the end, it will give you a deeper sense of your value proposition and how it needs to be honed to be truly unique.
  • Intelligence That Only You Possess. Anyone can start virtually any company these days. What cannot be copied is the intelligence that comes with experience. A local politician won a mayoral race in a big city against a politician that was well known in the state. The underdog winner focused on things only he could know from having grown up in the city, like the pothole on 5th avenue and the underperforming train system. He used the knowledge he could only obtain from the years he spent growing up in that city. You can’t copy intelligence or experience so find yours as the basis of a unique value proposition.
  • Unique Doesn’t Just Mean Product or Service – It Can Mean Approach. Your uniqueness does not have to be a feature of your product or service. It can be the way you approach your market. Take Starbucks. When they launched there was no shortage of coffee in America. Take Apple. The technology behind songs and MP3s existed for a decade. But each of them took a unique approach.
  • No Need to be Unique to Everyone – Just to Your Target Market. It is virtually impossible to be unique for an entire market in this day and age. And while it still takes creativity, it is much easier to be unique to a specific market segment. Think of a high-end car club in which members get access to multiple high-end cars. Approaching a whole market where there are existing services might be hard, but what if you only approached affluent women in Nashville and created a car club that really focused on the Nashville scene? Might be pretty unique.

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