What stops your value proposition from succeeding?

Spot On! This is where many go down the wrong road and then realize that they are way down the road and invested so much amount and time, that they cannot return back. I believe Business Development, should never be focused on selling but be focused on gathering insightful information, that could pave way for effective identification of the customer problems, this could be the input for effective product development and the starting point of developing an effective UVP (Unique Value Proposition). This will pave way for selling to happen effectively and efficiently.

I have experienced that the problem when “your user is not your customer” is that you have attracted users that think your service or product is a "Nice-to-have” and not “Need-to-have”. Taking a step back and reviewing customer interviews helps you pinpoint your ideal customer and what their real need is. Sometimes we listen to the strongest voices and mistake those for the “real need”.

That’s correct. To know customers’ real needs & wants and also understand their pain points, you need to be better engaged with the customers. That is possible only when you visit to customer proactively without any RFQ and listen to their issues/ pain points. My experience says that if you want to really understand customers pain points, you must visit their entire process (process industry) from start to end; ask specific questions about process, controls etc which will gives you insight on their pain points. You can use those pain points and accordingly design value propositions for your products. You need to also validate those points with key stakeholders at customer end.

Agreed It is all about creating belief in your customer that you will keep your promises and actually deliver that value proposition ….simplicity is key, not complexity..above all aligned to customer needs and what you can achieve together.

I believe it essential to challenge one's own proposition time and again to ensure that what is being delivered or the promise behind that delivery is complete in value and honesty. What is more important than an action to be present in the market is that the identity (business) itself is a magnet of truth that attracts. Validation is inevitable.

Lack of clarity also includes wrong targeting ( messaging). Whether you are selling a million dollar product or a $10 monthly subscription, you need to understand your customer profile and accordingly edit your reachout/ messaging.

An example of "Lack of clarity" that I have seen was when a video streaming company wanted to differentiate themselves from the competition by being a monetization platform for video creators. But, instead their communication was about being a streaming platform for creators. This unclarity resulted in that they attracted consumers instead of creators, and therefore experienced low conversion.

One of the prime elements when you plan on communicating your value proposition is identifying your Target audience, their interests, and ensure you have the right type of messaging aligned to the right target audience. When you communicate your value proposition, you need to consider the various stakeholders who might require different perspectives of the same value proposition. A business team or a CEO might need a different perspective from the tech team or the CTO when they come across your message. Are we clear. Our message should not be cluttered by specific and intriguing. This could attract the target audience to probe for more information using the links. Story telling is a great way of communicating your value proposition.

Agree. It’s important to have very specific, unique and powerful value propositions. It should give impact to the customers. In short, it should be design in such a way that it gives customers wow feeling.

Here's an analogy I often share with my peers: Think of your value proposition as an elevator pitch. If you only have 30 seconds in an elevator with a potential client, would you delve into the complexities or succinctly convey the tangible benefits they'd gain from your solution?

Having first hand experience to this, I had landed clients by just having sales meeting but when it came to execute those requirements in the real world, with the expertise we had in-house it was real tough deal to get things done. So make sure your execution team and your sales team are aligned first and them comes the client requirement.

One thing that I have seen when there is a gap between value promised and value delivered, is that it usually results in the customer leaving. This might happen when the customers will have to decide if they want to invest time in searching, scrolling for the information, or leave. My experience is that many leave. This depends on the intent of the user of course. Are they searching for information or completing a purchase for example?

From my experience, differentiation is the only option, especially if you are not a large or well known brand. With the brand comes recognition and trust, and that will eat market shares. Even if you are equally well known as a brand, you probably benefit from differentiation. You might sell the same type of product or have the same features, and that means you will have to stick out for something else. It can be your business model, safety, community, and so on.

There could be overlaps in some of our value propositions when we compare it with our competitors as we are mainly focusing on the same landscape. But as I pointed out earlier, it is very important that we have the right discussions with the right customer stakeholders in order to derive the value propositions which could be overlays and differentiated between the stakeholders. I am someone who believes a right discussion could help us differentiate ourselves from our competition at least in one or more value propositions.

In my sales experience, I've learned that it's not just about selling solutions; it's about selling your company. Customers seek trust, credibility, and shared values. They look for strategic value (reputation and ethics), people value (competence and commitment), and solution value (fulfilling expectations). These values combine to create a unique offering. Show customers that your company provides not just solutions, but dependable, knowledgeable people who stand by their promises. Anyone can sell products, but not everyone can offer the value that you and your company bring.

From my experience, not analyzing the customer behaviors and competitors can lead to you losing market shares to a competitor that has disrupted the market. The needs, preferences, and expectations of the customers will change over time with new market trends, and competitor offerings for example. This is why it is important to analyze customer behavior or competitors to be able to align your value proposition with the changes.

Some of the key buzz words in the technological or digitization markets within enterprises these days are agile, integration, evolution , innovation, optimize, monetize and scale. With the changing dynamic in the market place our value propositions should address some of the key problems faced by customers. These problems are stated within the key words. Thereby, any value proposition not aligned to the above buzz words will not create an impact or attract the customer in listening to what we have to say.

There is one more dimension to what can drive the success of value in any proposition ... It involves buy-in of all relevant stakeholders, focussed ownership and efficient execution. Once a idea is validated and good to go towards execution, many a failure has been the misalignment with clear ownership and execution planning.

Another one to consider is "Lack of implementation". Many a times i have noticed business development staff articulating value proposition well to convince the customer, but the moment customer has been acquired, service levels do not justify the value proposition that was promised to be delivered. Clearly, many organisations fail to implement servicing strategies that ought to be put in place for the value proposition they were committing. Imagine Pizza Hut's value proposition in India of delivery within 30 mins and failing to deliver on that value proposition.

In my work experience, I learned three key company values: 1. Strategic Value: Our reputation, philosophy, and core values set us apart. 2. People Value: Our team's style, honesty, diligence, reliability, and competence were our strengths. 3. Solution Value: Our offerings fulfilled customer expectations and drove their success. These values were our guiding lights, ensuring we stood out and delivered excellence.

Often people in organisations build their value proposition with a hint of subjectivity. They build the VP based on what they think it’s valuable and should be appreciated by customers and market. What I found effective is going to existing clients and partners and get their input. I would openly ask: “please tell me top 3 benefits of the product” or, top 3 achievements that you achieved due to the product/solution. Or what’s the major quality of the product that made you choose us and not another offer of the market. Often, you will be surprised when gathering and analysing that data that what your customers see as key value of your offering may differ from what you see. Build the VP around that feedback and you will be successful

Truth, honesty, authenticity all play a big part here. I've worked with so many business owners who shy away from the BMC because it asks difficult questions. And we shouldn't shy away from them, if we don't know the answers or haven't done the research. This is the time to lay it all out. When it isn't going to cost you or your business anything other than time. Validation, alignment, differentiation all come from an honest start point. One where you feel confident to lay all your ideas, thoughts, finances etc., out there to scrutiny. And scrutiny means working with a coach, business partner, collaborator, who understands the model, wants the best for you and has an innovative take on business.