Comments on: Can Value Propositions Be Generic? http://partnersinexcellenceblog.com/can-value-propositions-be-generic/ Making A Difference - In Business and Your Personal Life Wed, 10 Mar 2010 22:11:03 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 By: David Brock http://partnersinexcellenceblog.com/can-value-propositions-be-generic/comment-page-1/#comment-524 David Brock Thu, 15 Oct 2009 13:53:01 +0000 http://partnersinexcellenceblog.com/?p=439#comment-524 Barney, there are a lot of other materials on Value Propositions in this blog. Click on categories then on Value Propositions. If you would like, I would be glad to send you a copy of my Value Proposition ebook, just email me at dabrock at excellenc.com. It there is anything else we can do to help, please let us know. Good luck in your project. Thanks for the comment. Barney, there are a lot of other materials on Value Propositions in this blog. Click on categories then on Value Propositions. If you would like, I would be glad to send you a copy of my Value Proposition ebook, just email me at dabrock at excellenc.com. It there is anything else we can do to help, please let us know.

Good luck in your project. Thanks for the comment.

]]> By: Barney Austen http://partnersinexcellenceblog.com/can-value-propositions-be-generic/comment-page-1/#comment-523 Barney Austen Thu, 15 Oct 2009 11:17:38 +0000 http://partnersinexcellenceblog.com/?p=439#comment-523 Hi David. This is all a very new area for me so I just wanted to say thanks for a very insightful and thought provoking piece of writing. David/Keith - same applies for your comments. I am working on defining the value proposition for the product at the moment and this food for thought will certainly help this process along. Thanks again all Barney Hi David. This is all a very new area for me so I just wanted to say thanks for a very insightful and thought provoking piece of writing. David/Keith – same applies for your comments. I am working on defining the value proposition for the product at the moment and this food for thought will certainly help this process along.
Thanks again all
Barney

]]> By: David Pinder http://partnersinexcellenceblog.com/can-value-propositions-be-generic/comment-page-1/#comment-507 David Pinder Wed, 14 Oct 2009 14:24:26 +0000 http://partnersinexcellenceblog.com/?p=439#comment-507 David - It was great to see you making the point that value is in the eye of the beholder, supported by your excellent cycling anecdote. It's a welcome counter to the usual angle where 'value proposition' is used simply, and wrongly, as a synonym for benefits statement, elevator speech, USP, or advertising slogan. But can value propositions be generic? If, as you rightly observe, value is subjective, it follows that "generic value proposition" risks being an oxymoron. I am co-author of a book on Value Propositions - see http://creatinganddeliveringyourvalueproposition.com/ - and when discussing this topic we concluded that, at the corporate level, it can be helpful to rename the high-level statement as a Value Hypothesis (particularly in situations where a new offering is being presented without the benefit of any pre-existing customer value experience). Then value propositions apply to specific situations. They have weight where they are related to specific market segments, specific offerings used over specific time frames, specific sales opportunities, and to targeted people within those specific sales opportunities (e.g. CEO, CFO, CMO). To relate this back to another important point that you make, this is where concreteness comes from. What is, of course, crucially important is that there is congruence among all of the levels of value propositions: the view at 35,000 feet needs to be aligned with the view at street level. Regards David David -
It was great to see you making the point that value is in the eye of the beholder, supported by your excellent cycling anecdote. It’s a welcome counter to the usual angle where ‘value proposition’ is used simply, and wrongly, as a synonym for benefits statement, elevator speech, USP, or advertising slogan.

But can value propositions be generic? If, as you rightly observe, value is subjective, it follows that “generic value proposition” risks being an oxymoron.

I am co-author of a book on Value Propositions – see http://creatinganddeliveringyourvalueproposition.com/ – and when discussing this topic we concluded that, at the corporate level, it can be helpful to rename the high-level statement as a Value Hypothesis (particularly in situations where a new offering is being presented without the benefit of any pre-existing customer value experience).

Then value propositions apply to specific situations. They have weight where they are related to specific market segments, specific offerings used over specific time frames, specific sales opportunities, and to targeted people within those specific sales opportunities (e.g. CEO, CFO, CMO). To relate this back to another important point that you make, this is where concreteness comes from.

What is, of course, crucially important is that there is congruence among all of the levels of value propositions: the view at 35,000 feet needs to be aligned with the view at street level.

Regards
David

]]> By: David Brock http://partnersinexcellenceblog.com/can-value-propositions-be-generic/comment-page-1/#comment-502 David Brock Tue, 13 Oct 2009 18:14:29 +0000 http://partnersinexcellenceblog.com/?p=439#comment-502 Keith: I couldn't agree with you more. A company needs to stand for something--for its customers, employees, shareholders and community. This is at the core of its value proposition. You've given me a great idea for another blog post! Regards, Dave Keith: I couldn’t agree with you more. A company needs to stand for something–for its customers, employees, shareholders and community. This is at the core of its value proposition. You’ve given me a great idea for another blog post! Regards, Dave

]]> By: Keith Bossey http://partnersinexcellenceblog.com/can-value-propositions-be-generic/comment-page-1/#comment-501 Keith Bossey Tue, 13 Oct 2009 17:38:09 +0000 http://partnersinexcellenceblog.com/?p=439#comment-501 I too, cannot resist. To me, the value proposition is the essential building block of a company's marketing and sales strategy. My answer to the question of static vs. custom is the same as yours, it depends. But to me, it depends on how you define value proposition. A company needs a concrete value proposition in order to create its marketing strategy. The basics of who you are, what you do, why it matters, and to whom, drive content decisions, media decisions, and everything else you do in marketing (or should do). Furthermore, having a well defined value proposition is necessary to get buy-in from other key stakeholders like employees and/or shareholders. At this level, concrete is necessary. At the individual sale level, I don't even think a value proposition should be used. At that level, the sales professional should be positioning the solution to cater to a specific need, and desire for value. A "value proposition" at this point is, as you point out, meaningless to a customer. For me, perhaps, the talk of value proposition, should be banned from conversations about sales. The value proposition is an upstream tool only. All of that said, although the "value proposition" has to have some concreteness to it, it also has to be a living thing, constantly being refined by market and customer feedback. Who a company is, what they do, why it matters, and to whom, are moving targets for successful companies. I too, cannot resist. To me, the value proposition is the essential building block of a company’s marketing and sales strategy. My answer to the question of static vs. custom is the same as yours, it depends. But to me, it depends on how you define value proposition. A company needs a concrete value proposition in order to create its marketing strategy. The basics of who you are, what you do, why it matters, and to whom, drive content decisions, media decisions, and everything else you do in marketing (or should do). Furthermore, having a well defined value proposition is necessary to get buy-in from other key stakeholders like employees and/or shareholders. At this level, concrete is necessary. At the individual sale level, I don’t even think a value proposition should be used. At that level, the sales professional should be positioning the solution to cater to a specific need, and desire for value. A “value proposition” at this point is, as you point out, meaningless to a customer. For me, perhaps, the talk of value proposition, should be banned from conversations about sales. The value proposition is an upstream tool only.

All of that said, although the “value proposition” has to have some concreteness to it, it also has to be a living thing, constantly being refined by market and customer feedback. Who a company is, what they do, why it matters, and to whom, are moving targets for successful companies.

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