Why Should You Do A Value Proposition (VP) Workshop?
A value proposition workshop can oftentimes be an eye-opener and the first opportunity you may encounter to really stand in your customer’s shoes. It’s a vital stage in developing your company’s brand identity and to help craft your brand roadmap. It is also an important early step in your overall marketing strategy and will be a valuable resource for making informed brand-related decisions in the short, medium and long term for your business.
We’ve found from experience that technology-driven companies, in particular, can sometimes forget the customer’s needs and wants in their quest for innovation – a pitfall that a regular value proposition workshop can help avoid. Done well a VP Workshop has the power to change the lenses and the perspective from which you are looking at your company, your customers and your offerings.
What is a Value Proposition?
A Value Proposition is a clear statement about the outcomes the customer can gain and benefit from by using your product, service or solution. Think of answering these two simple questions:
- What’s in it for me (the customer)?
- Why should I buy from you (and not your competitor)?
Answering these questions gives your company a foundation for creating it’s key messaging around your brand and overall brand development going forward.
Why do you need a Value Proposition?
A strong Value Proposition grabs the attention of prospective customers and makes them want to know more. It can create a strong differentiator between your company and competitors. Writing a value proposition starts with the customer and an understanding of their needs. Each customer group may have a different value proposition to highlight specific benefits that are most relevant to them. How do you discover your Value Proposition? Through a dedicated workshop…
What’s involved in a Value Proposition Workshop?
Conducting a Value Proposition Workshop is a great way of developing the right positioning statement with the right target audience in mind. The focus of the workshop is entirely centered around your customers, their primary jobs, their pains, needs and wants and how your company can relieve those pains, solve those problems and meet those needs. It will ultimately help you understand your target audience and develop a statement that resonates and speaks to them rather than delivering something that you think sounds good.
What is the Value Proposition Canvas?
The Value Proposition Canvas is a graphical tool developed by Alexander Osterwalder. The Value Proposition Canvas “helps you tackle the core challenges of every business – creating compelling products and services customers want to buy.”
To use this tool correctly you must forget about your company and put your entire focus on your customer. Doing this will enable you to clearly understand how you are creating value for your customers and, if required, correct course so that you can deliver better value in the future. For technology-driven companies, it will ensure that innovation is customer-led and not the other way around. One canvas should be used for each customer segment.
The Outcome
As mentioned at the opening of this article, the outcomes of such a workshop will most likely change the way in which your company views, markets and communicates with your customers. This change will have a direct impact on all future branding decisions. The VP workshop gives you a tangible asset that can be used to shape the voice of your brand and how your brand communicates with all stakeholders. Based on the information unearthed, you will need to condense all your benefits, solutions, unique selling points from the customer’s point of view (not your own!) into a single sentence, phrase or short paragraph. Make sure it is simple, short and to the point: if you can’t explain it simply, then you have an underlying problem with your positioning and will have to go back to the drawing board. See some examples of great VP’s here.
At IMS Marketing we have years of experience in running successful value proposition workshops for our clients that have gone on to be an extremely important collateral for their overall branding. To find out how we can help you with your brand development don’t hesitate to contact us by email [email protected] or call us on +353 91 739450
