Value Propositions are exciting to create. The ability to strike the exact right tone that opens more doors for your product or service is euphoric when achieved. In a crowded marketplace, a business with the right value proposition stands out like a diamond in the rough.
Knowing you’ve found your is a process of trial and error. It rarely just happens. Often, it’s not until you’ve said it all wrong long enough that you start to recognize what it is. So, no, most of us won’t find our value proposition overnight. We’ll get along with something that we think is until we work at it and work at it.
How do you find a value proposition that opens more doors? Start with the first layer of digging on the way to finding your diamond.
LEVEL ONE: What You Do
When creating your value proposition, you’ll certainly start where we all do by answering “What Is It We Do?” A typical level one value proposition looks like the following: “ABC Company provides X services to X customers.” Too many people stop right here. It’s provides very little value to the customer other than letting them know they could be talking to the right people for the service they need. It doesn’t demonstrate any level of expertise, merely a level of service to expect.
LEVEL TWO: How We Do It
The next level of digging for your value proposition process will naturally go to trying to justify how you do that service you do. It feels like it has more meaning because it’s about to get wordy, but it’s still going to miss the mark. “ABC Company provides X services to X customers by using the best X to deliver quality X.” This sounds clear, it’s precise, surely it must be good, right? Well, not so much. It’s still just a long explanation without any value.
LEVEL THREE: Why We’re Better at It
Undoubtedly, this is where most of you are in your search for the value proposition. You’ve been digging and digging and you think you’re there. Level three is where you begin to equate value with experience. “ABC Company provides X services to X customers by using the best X to deliver quality X. Our X years of delivering X for X customers is the key to our success.” It’s what you do, how you do it, why you’re good at it. Surely, you’re done digging because you’ve captured your value, right? I know you’re tired, you’ve been doing a lot of digging but I need you to dig a little deeper here if you really want to find your and trust me it’s there, you’re just not seeing it properly.
From level one to level three, do you recognize anything in common and insignificant? All three value propositions are not providing any value to the customer, they’re simply resume building their products and business experience. What problem do they solve for the customer? Very little. They’re just a dime a dozen business fighting for a potential customer’s willingness to give them a chance.
A value proposition is simple and speaks to only solving the customer’s biggest problem. That problem is something they may not even know how to articulate but they know it when they see it. It’s a in a bed of dusty, worn-out messages.
LEVEL FOUR: THE DREAM YOU SOLVE FOR YOUR CUSTOMERS
In the very early 2000s, MP3 Players had made their way into the marketplace in a big way. Buyers had to juggle with how much they wanted to spend on an MP3 Player which was largely based on how much memory their MP3 Player had. Could they fit a few CDs work of music on the player? Maybe only one or two CDs at the most. It was purely a fight for memory and music capacity and not a very inspiring one.
Along comes Apple with an MP3 Player. The computer company was entering the music player industry. The iPod had a cool casing, a nice screen, the cool silver and white design that looked modern. The average cost of an 6GB MP3 Player at the time was roughly $250 – $350. When Apple’s iPod came onto the scene, it retailed for $399.
Now, how did a computer company, not in the stereo or music business have the audacity to charge as much as $150 above their competitors for an MP3 Player? They didn’t have experience in this product vertical. Yet, they took over the industry.
Now, how did they position this product. Did they say “Buy an Apple iPod because we’ve been developing computers and software for over 20 years and our products are known to be some of the best in the industry”?
No, they simple said “1,000 SONGS IN YOUR POCKET”. Immediately, theconsumer understood the value. It was so simple and spoke to something no one would have articulated. As a consumer, we would have said
“I want more storage space”.
“Okay, but how much?”
“I dunno.”
Customers can’t always explain what they need or want but they know it when they see it. That’s the value proposition. Your customers wants and needs are like a bag of snakes inside their head. They can’t bullet point their way to a solution, they just need to hear the solution and they’ll know it’s right.
Getting to Your Value Proposition
Creating the right message is not an overnight success. Even when you have it, you may pivot as it gets more and more clear. First, start saying it out loud or writing it on paper. Then, step back and ask yourself if you believe in what you just said. If you were in a room of 50 competitors, and each one of you had to go pitch to your ideal customer, would your message stand out?
Finding takes the right tools. Click here to download our Perfecting Your Value Proposition toolkit. If you want to learn more about how Azola Creative can help you find your Value Proposition – take action and schedule a call.