A value proposition tells the world why you exist. But they ain't easy to write. Here's a framework I use to help me.
Think of your value proposition as the sum of four parts:
A simple, plain English statement
What do you stand for?
Your mission statement
Your vision statement
A simple, plain English statement
Wipe your brain of any sales and marketing speak and remove all jargon from your vocabulary. Now start to answer the following questions using the simplest language you can manage:
What are the top benefits of your product or service?
What are the most important features of your product or service?
What kind of experience can your customers expect? Self service, set-and-forget, attentive account management, luxury concierge service?
Who is your absolute ideal customer?
What do they want?
What do they fear?
If they don't choose you, what’s their alternative?
What do you stand for?
For some reason, I think it's far easier to think about brand values in terms of, 'what do we stand for?'.
What are the top 3 three things you stand for? Is it creativity? Is it a specific expertise? A certain standard? Is it a particular customer experience? List them out.
Now gather examples of evidence that support each of these priority values. This could be certificates, IP, testimonials, awards. You get the idea.
But, know this, if you can't find any evidence to support the values you lay claim to, it's probably wise to think again.
Mission statement
What is a mission statement? Well it depends on who you ask. But for me, it's a statement of your ambition, based on where you are today.
This should be the easiest part to write, I also think its the most crucial. Construct it by answering these 3 questions:
What problem do we solve?
How do we solve it?
What do our customers get as a result?
Vision statement
And so it follows, our vision statement describes our desire for the future - it serves to inspire us to execute the mission.
Draft your vision statement by answering these 3 questions:
What do we hope for?
How will we get there?
What will our customers get when we get there?
And finally. . .
Having completed these 4 jobs, we're ready to bring it together into a headline statement followed by a short paragraph that (in effect) becomes your elevator pitch.
Now, anyone unfamiliar with your work can scan your value proposition and immediately understand the problem you solve, for whom, how you do it, and why you are the obvious choice.
Simple, eh?
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