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This question has been closed, and points have been awarded.
How Do I Go About Developing A Value Proposition?
Posted By: nl on 1/13/2005 2:16 PM (CST) 125 Points
We are a membership organization.

We conducted some market research and determined that members and non-members do not clearly understand our value proposition.

Help! I need to get started....can you give me a step by step walk through for this process?

Thank you!

Posted by: Bill Moore* Member Response
1/13/2005 2:19 PM (CST)
What value, specifically, does your organization hold for its members. What is your current value proposition and how has it been communicated?

Need more data Johnny 5 :).

Bill Moore
 
Posted by: Markitek Accepted Answer
1/13/2005 2:33 PM (CST)
If they don't understand it's because you don't understand it.

Ask yourself a simple question and give yourself a long time to answer it:

What do we do for our membership?

Don't futz with elevator speech stuff . . . take as much time and as many pages as you need . . . get everyone involved . . . really work the thing over until you've exhausted the topic

Now . . . figure out from that what you do for your membership . . . cut out the stuff about "bringing real value to our . . ." and so on. Find the meat in the answer.

Now boil it down to its core message . . . that ought to take a little while too.

That's your value proposition.
 
Posted by: W.M.M.A. Member Response
1/13/2005 2:52 PM (CST)
If I may suggest, NL, keep this post open. You may be overwhelmed, battered and beaten, but the end result will be that you will understand your value proposition, be able to present it to your target and enjoy the value of KHE to be guided by some of the finest experts in their fields.

Be open - be honest and share the information, I have every confidence you will achieve your goals.

Randall
WMMA
 
Posted by: J McCay/Avenue East* Accepted Answer
1/13/2005 6:45 PM (CST)
A value proposition is what makes your organization special. Why should the prospect join your club instead of a competing one? What do you have to offer?

Do you have benefits for your members that save them money? help them live their lives more positively? etc.

The poster above who said that if you don't know the answer, no one else will, is right on the money. If you can't tell people off the top of your head what sets you apart, there needs to be some research to determine what your competition delivers that you don't and vice versa, you need to step up your benefits if there truly isn't anything to distinguish you, and so forth.

Without a concept for your business that makes your value proposition come forth in an easy-to-grasp way, your customers will not value you and prospects will continue not to know why to join.

If I can be of any more assistance, please let me know. Good luck!

Cheers,
Jennifer
 
Posted by: AndrewS Member Response
1/14/2005 3:16 AM (CST)
I created a document here that can help you:
http://blackwhite.uk.com/guides/value%20propositions.pdf
 
Posted by: mcherif* Accepted Answer
1/14/2005 8:55 AM (CST)
Hello,

As said above, the fact that consumers don’t understand your value proposition is most probably due to the fact that your organisation lacks clarity on this. This might be due to past inconsistencies in the way the organization was managed, but it can also be that you never could identify what your customers are looking for and what you can deliver. I found the model presented by Andrew S very good, but it implies that you already have completed this important task of understanding what your customers want.

If it is not the case, there are several ways of doing it, through basic research, asking your prospects which attributes they value the most (ex: for a car, can be speed, price, comfort, safety, etc.) and what rating would they give you and your competitors on each of these attributes.

To go further you need some statistical tools in order to analyse the best possible combinations of these attributes (there’s an interesting article on this in the Mc Kinsey Quarterly 2003 Number 4, title: “Better branding”, with a model called “Pathway modelling”)

Also, remember, sometimes the most important attributes are not the ones that can differentiate you (example of the clean bed-sheets for an hotel, this is very important but every customer expect this and most probably every competitor provides it). And what you need is a DIFFERENTIATED value proposition. To find more, I also recommend the book “Differentiate or die” by Jack Trout and Steve Rivkin.

Hope that helps

Mehdi
 
Posted by: nl Author Response
1/26/2005 9:35 AM (CST)
Dear marketing colleagues,

I posted a question regarding defining our organization's value proposition a while back. I received many responses which were VERY helpful. The messages that were posted helped me to get clear about what I needed to do (and think about) before I answered this question.

Thank you for responding. I appreciate your support!!

NL
 
Posted by: Shmakov78* Member Response
2/9/2005 12:34 PM (CST)
Hi everybody,

I am working under the task of developing a value proposition for the steel making company. Is anyone had experience of doing this for steel business? What does it mean?

Our customers buys from XXX because we can make (1) target chemistry (N<8 ppm, etc. ) (2) we deliver in time (3) no need for shot-blasting, surface of our slabs is clean.

But this is short. I need more detailed document. It would great to hear some ideas.

Eugeny

P.S. Branding is not very important in the steel business. Auto maker does not care whether this is Chinese, Russian or Brazilian steel - the main is to meet quality requirements.
 
Posted by: mgoodman Accepted Answer
2/23/2005 3:52 PM (CST)
I had a project for an international not-for-profit membership organization that basically required that we come up with a clear expression of the value proposition.

It was like peeling an onion ... many layers and levels. I had to interview members all over the world -- some face-to-face, others by phone, and others by email (not very effective) -- to find out what they each thought the real value was. The process took about 4-5 months.

The good news is that it really helped the organization -- from the executive director on down -- clarify what they were all about, what the priorities should be, and how they could accomplish their mission more effectively.

Start with a SWOT analysis that has input from all constituencies. You may also need/want some quantitative market research to identify the "gaps" between what people want and what they think you currently offer.

These should get you pointed in the right direction. If you need more detail, feel free to contact me by clicking on my id at the top of this message.
 
Posted by: Shelley, MProfs Moderator Response
3/6/2005 7:26 AM (CST)
Everyone, I am closing this question since it's growing a few cobwebs (and because I can). Thanks for participating!
 
Posted by: nl Author Response
3/7/2005 2:30 PM (CST)
Thank you all for taking the time to answer my post regarding developing a value proposition.
I learned much and it was very helpful.
Thank you again for taking the time to do this!
 


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