Craft Your Value Proposition

Your value proposition is the core of your competitive advantage. It articulates why someone would choose you over a competitor, which is so important in this technological age where various options are available at any moment.

Strong value propositions convince clients why you are the best person for the job by identifying the problem in the market and demonstrating how you are uniquely qualified to solve this problem in a way your competitors are not. With the refined value proposition, you will book clients that are better aligned with your core offering and increase profitability.

‍Adam Alter, a professor at the NYU Stern School of Business and author of multiple books about consumer psychology, shares that a strong value proposition is the intersection of your company, your customers, and your competition. We’ll explore all three to uncover your unique value proposition.

Anyone can build something new and cool, but if it doesn’t solve a problem or improve something that isn’t working, customers will not buy it. Taking some time to reflect on your customers will help you build a successful business.

You might have multiple types of customers, such as large clients, small clients, and individuals, across various industries. Each of them may respond to a different value proposition. For this exercise, choose one target customer to focus on. You can repeat the exercise as often as you need to with other personas later.

Consider the following questions:

• Who is your target customer? Suppose you sell your product or service to other businesses. In that case, you should describe both the type/size/location of your target companies (for example, DTC and e-commerce brands based in San Francisco) and also who your specific target customer within that company might be (for example, Creative Directors, Brand Managers, etc.).
• What are your customers' wants and needs? Define your customers' wants and needs. Focus on the specific person you are selling to.
• How does your customer make decisions? For example, is there one decision maker, or does your point of contact have to run the decision past multiple others?
• Will they need a one-pager or a deck to pass along? Are decisions made after exchanging a few emails, or are there many more hoops to jump through?
• What are trends in society that might affect your customer? For example, how would a return to a fully virtual professional world affect your customer?

As you reflect on customer needs, consider where you’re starting to see overlap between your company and your customers and how that creates a unique value proposition.