CRAFT VALUE PROPOSITION
A value proposition creates value for a customer segment through a distinct mix of elements catering to that segment's needs. Values may be quantitative (e.g., price, speed of service) or qualitative (e.g., design, customer experience).
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The value proposition is the reason why customers turn turn to one company or the other. It solves a customer's problem or satisfies a customer need. Each value propositions consists of a selected bundle of products and /or services that caters to the requirements of specific customer segment. In this sense, the value proposition is an aggregation, or bundle, of benefits that a company offers customers.
“Strategy is based on a differentiated value proposition. Satisfying customers is the source of sustainable value creation.”
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– Robert Kaplan and David Norton
Distinctive Value Proposition
The value proposition is the element of strategy that looks outward at customers, at the demand side of the business. Some value propositions may be innovative and represent a new or disruptive offer. Others may be similar to existing market offers, but with added features and attributes. The value proposition answers few fundamental questions:
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What value do we deliver to the customer?
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Which one of our customer's problem are we helping to solve?
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Which customer needs are we satisfying?
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What bundles of products and services are we offering to each customer segment?
Customer Profile, Value Map & Fit
The customer profile breaks the customer down into its jobs, pains and gains. Customer Jobs describe what customers are trying to get done in their work and in their lives, as expressed in their own words. A customer job could be the tasks they are trying to perform and complete, the problems they are trying to solve, or the needs they are trying to satisfy. Pains describe bad outcomes, risks, and obstacles related to the customer jobs They describe anything that annoys your customers before, during and after trying to get a job done or simply prevents them from getting a job done. They could risks, resulting in a bad outcome, related to getting the job done badly or not done at all. Gains describe the outcomes customers want to achieve or the concrete benefits they are seeking. Some gains are required, expected, or desired by customers, and some would surprise them. Gains include functional utility, social gains, positive emotions, and cost savings.
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The value map breaks your value proposition down into products and services, pain relievers, and gain creators. Products and services is simply a list of what you offer. Think of it as all the items your customers can see in your shop window - metaphorically speaking. This bundle of products and services helps your customer complete either functional, social or emotional jobs or helps them satisfy their basic need (reference 'hierarchy of needs' that form value). Pain relievers describe how exactly your products and services alleviate specific customer pains. They explicitly outline how you intend to eliminate or reduce some of the things that annoy your customers before, during. or after they are trying to complete a job or prevent them from doing so. Gain creators describe how your products and services create customer gains. They explicitly outline how you intend to produce outcomes and benefits that your customer expects, desires, or would be surprised by, including functional utility, social gains, positive emotions, and cost savings.
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You achieve fit when customers get excited about your value proposition, which happens when you address important jobs, alleviate extreme pains, and create essential gains that customers care about. Striving for, the hard find and maintain, fit is the essence of crafting the value proposition. Customers have a lot of pains. No organization can reasonably address all of them. Focus on those headaches that matter most and are insufficiently addressed. Customers expect and desire a lot from products and services, yet they also know they can't have it all. Focus on those gains that matter most to customers and make a difference. Your customers are the judge, jury, and executioner of your value proposition. They will be merciless if you don't find fit!
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Our Approach
We use a co-creation exercise that brings together various best practices into an accelerated solution environment to problem solve the crafting of your value proposition with the optimum fit withe customer profile. The search for the right fit of your value proposition to your target customer segment is a continuous back and forth between designing prototypes and testing them. The process iterative rather than sequential. The goal is to test ideas as quickly as possible in order to learn, create better designs, test again, and evolve. As you create alignment, measure and monitor, improve relentlessly, and reinvent yourself constantly, you will create value proposition that sell embedded in business models that work. Companies that are leaders in their space, do so continuously. They create new value propositions and business models while they are successful.
