Value Proposition
What are you really selling?
- Emotional connection with your target audience
- Guides all your marketing and sales
- Differentiates you from competitors
- What value do you add?
A value proposition is a promise of value to be delivered.
It’s the primary reason a prospect should buy from you. Your Value Proposition determines your positioning within the market. It clearly spells out what value you will add to your customers. It has nothing to do with your specific product, but rather the benefit your business will accumulatively deliver.
In a nutshell, value proposition is a clear statement of:
Relevancy
How your product solves customers’ problems or improves their situation.
Value
What specific value you will deliver.
Difference
Why your customers should buy from you and not from the competition.
Emotion
Gives me a real reason and emotional connection.
You need clarity on the following questions:
- What do you do?
- What are the benefits?
- What does it do for me the end user?
- What value does this give the end user?
- What emotion do you produce in your target audience?
A great value proposition is:
- Clear: It should be easy to understand so don’t use jargon, use the language of your customer.
- Outcomes: Communicates specific value and outcomes that your customers will get.
- Unique: Describes how your product/service is unique and different to competitors.
- Quick: Can be read and understood in 3-5 seconds!
Bringing it to life.
Your value proposition should be the first thing your potential customers see in your marketing materials and when they hit your website homepage, so it’s worthwhile investing some time in getting it right. To communicate your value proposition effectively, it must incorporate these four elements:
- 1. Headline: This is the most important part of your value proposition and needs to be an attention grabber. What is the end benefit you’re offering, in one short sentence? Can mention the product and/or the customer. Attention grabber.
- 2. Sub-headline or a 2-3 sentence paragraph: A specific explanation of what you do/offer, for whom and why is it useful.
- 3. Three bullet points: List the key benefits or features.
- 4. Visual: Images communicate much faster than words. Show the product, the hero shot or an image reinforcing your main message. Your value proposition should aim to make it really simple for customers to make decisions. By communicating how and why you are distinct from competitors, it reminds customers why they prefer your brand over others and why they may be willing to pay more for it.
It needs to come to life in your whole business!
This proposition needs to come to life and be fulfilled in every aspect of your business. When that phone rings, how are your customer service staff ensuring this value proposition is fulfilled? How are your operations/fulfilment team making this value proposition come to life? How are you building a life-long relationship with your customers that ensure your customers get this ‘value’ each and every time.
The best value proposition is clear: what is it, for whom and how is it useful.
Note: This is a very powerful tool for internal use as well, ensuring all staff focus is on fulfilling the value proposition, and not just delivering a specific product or service!
Ready to grow your business?
Lachlan Stevens
BLOG: What are you really selling?
