How to find your killer Customer Value Proposition

There’s a Customer Value Proposition lying hidden in your business, and the best person to uncover it is the son of a preacher man who was expelled from University for drunkenly crashing a friend’s car, who passed his final Chemistry exam despite spending most of his time drinking, dancing and gambling, who created a 59-second ad that made more money than ‘Gone with the Wind’, and who – unsurprisingly – inspired the character Don Draper from Mad Men.

Unfortunately for you, Rosser Reeves died in 1984, but he left behind a legacy of insight and created the concept of the Unique Selling Point (USP). In today’s real world, however, it’s very rare to come across something that’s truly unique, so we now prefer to talk about a Customer Value Proposition (CVP) instead.

And if you want to grow your business, that’s what you need to find out.

What are you really good at? What do you do better than any other business? What’s the benefit to your customers? And let’s not forget, it needs to be something your target market actually cares about. No point being the cheapest, for example, if your prospects value quality and have the money to pay for it.

And then how can you say it in just a few words – because that’s all you’ll get when the potential customer views your website, ad, or message.

Once you get to the bottom of all that, once you’ve nailed your Value Proposition and articulated it succinctly and memorably, then you can build a plan to shout it from the rooftops, and your business will grow. Simples.

So what are we aiming for?
Here are a few examples of Value Propositions, perfectly articulated.

Compare the Market.
When you read ‘Simples’, were you thinking of this business already..? ‘Simples’ is part of their brand – on its own isn’t the value proposition, but it’s not far off it….

Compare and Save. Simples.
Join over 6 million Australians who we’ve helped look for a better deal.

Compare and save. Three words that deliver the absolute essence of the business, what it does, and how you benefit. ‘Simples’ adds a little flair to make it memorable, and then on the landing page, you get the social proof required to know you’re on the right track. Brilliant. And highly successful.

Hello Fresh
By delivering a box to your front door with a recipe, and all the ingredients to make a meal, this home delivery business has taken the world by storm in the last few years. Supported by a large advertising budget, for sure, but also with a value proposition that hits the mark in so many ways.

Fresh and delicious meal kits, delivered right to your door. We save you serious time, money & stress. Good for you. Better for the planet. Best for your wallet.

So if you’re busy trying to work, look after the health of yourself, your family, and your finances too, then all the boxes are immediately ticked. Even concern for the planet is wrapped up in a customer value statement, that’s delivered as effectively as their product.

Youi
Let’s go back to insurance, and take a look at Youi. A car insurance business (to begin with) that was built on the concept of personalisation contrary to most insurance companies that tend to average out the risk with volume.

You. Insured. Car insurance for individuals.
Car insurance that values you for who you are, and how you drive.

The concept was so easy to grasp that it gained immediate cut through in a very competitive market. The company itself was even named to encapsulate the Proposition. Very well done indeed. So well done, in fact, that they now offer all kinds of insurance.

WordPress
Unless you’re new to the world of websites, you already know all about WordPress. However, if you were ever in any doubt about using the platform, the customer value proposition on the landing page quickly sets you straight.

WordPress
More bloggers, small businesses, and Fortune 500 companies use WordPress than all other options combined. Join the millions of people that call WordPress.com home.

Straight, direct, and to the point. Overwhelming evidence and confirmation that you’re in safe hands, and good company, when you build a site with WordPress.

Stanton Dahl
Here’s one we did. An architecture practice didn’t really know how to tell people what it did. So we found out. Given they built things like low-income housing, schools, and aged care facilities, they were all about creating great building usability – flashy design was not their thing. Their buildings are monuments to community, not ego. Yet they were struggling to gain clarity around this. Happily, after going through our Blueprint process their Customer Value Proposition emerged.

Architecture in the Service of People
Buildings that improve the lives of their users. At Stanton Dahl, we practice ethical architecture that serves peoples’ lives.

We’re committed to creating your vision, not ours.

Not only did this encapsulate their brand it also became their purpose and drives them as effectively inside the business as outside it. That’s the sign of a powerful CVP.

So how do you find out what your Customer Value Proposition is?
Well, for starters you’ve got to stop working in your business. Carve out some time, get the key stakeholders together and create space to think about your business from a different perspective.

Look at the basics of what you do. What do your competitors do? Why would a prospect choose you, over them? Maybe ask your customers. What do they really value about your service, or product? Can they quantify it? Some of the answers might surprise you.

Try and see your business as if you’re seeing it for the first time. Question everything.
If anyone says “Because we’ve always done it like that” throw them out of the room. Well, you get the idea. But seriously though…

The key is to try and achieve an objective point of view, on the value delivered to your customers. And if you’re struggling to find anything totally unique, keep in mind it only has to be unique in your market, where your prospects happen to be.

All of this is much easier said than done, of course, which is why many organisations ask for some help. So don’t worry if you can’t get there. An outside perspective is a lot easier to achieve, if you’re actually an outsider.

How a strategic marketer can help uncover your Customer Value Proposition?
Just as we did with Stanton Dahl, an experienced strategic marketer can help draw all of this out of you and your team. The answer is in there somewhere, you just can’t see it. An outsider has no preconceptions, they’re not influenced by history, emotion or politics, so they can say what they see, with clarity.

They also bring a breadth of experience to the table. While your team will have depth, no doubt, consultant dips in and out of all kinds of businesses, in all kinds of industries – and this delivers a diversity of analysis and thought, you probably can’t get inside your organisation.

And when they get to the core of it all, identifying your Customer Value Proposition, it’s as if they’ve just encapsulated what you ‘felt and knew to be true’, but could never quite articulate. And we know this because our clients tell us.

If you’d like some help uncovering the killer Customer Value Proposition lying hidden in your business, then give us a call, and let’s get started.