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

FUNCTIONDoes thisAnd thisAnd this

BENEFIT# 1# 2# 3

FEATURE# 1# 2# 3


Type 1

Benefits DrivenFUNCTION

Does thisAnd thisAnd 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 DrivenFUNCTION

Does thisAnd thisAnd 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© 2015 Knowledgence Associates, All Rights Reserved

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 CUSTOMERImperatives

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



BenefitsDriven

AlternativesDriven

CustomerDriven

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?


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


Product 1

Product 2

Product 2

• Customer objective • Our Offer • Key Differentiator(s)


Product 1

Product 2

Core Segments

Service 1

Product 3

Service 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



BenefitsDriven

AlternativesDriven

CustomerDriven

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?


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

[email protected]

O: 617-661-8250

M: 617- 901-7366

Knowledgence Offer

360 Degrees of the CustomerStrategies & Tactics for Marketing, Sales and Service

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Marketing, Sales and Customer Service are three disciplines that all overlap at the same point: the customer. All customer touch points should be integrated with each other, a theory that makes perfect sense in the abstract, but is hard to do in the reality. Presents strategies & tactics to keep the customer promise.

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