Workshop Exercises: Define

Value Proposition Statement

Summarize why a customer would choose your product or service

Alternative plays: Business Model Mapping, Golden Circle, Value Proposition Mapping

Follow-up plays: Assumptions Collection, Assumptions Mapping

See also: Hypothesis Statement, Job Stories

Timing: Discovery

Origin: Geoff Moore, Crossing the Chasm

Run time
30-60 minutes

Group size
3-10

Why: Address customer pain and gains to demonstrate how your offering will break through from competing solutions

When: Ideal for product or service design, when refining marketing strategies, or crafting sales messaging

Before refining the wording, check how a value proposition differs from a slogan or positioning. The glossary example also shows how to distinguish a proposed customer benefit from evidence that the offer delivers it.

Instructions for running this play

Define the problem set to help vet whether it’s a problem worth solving. Validate its criticality by asking the 4 Us:
1. Does your solution fix a broken business process (Unworkable)?
2. Is fixing the problem Unavoidable?
3. Is the problem Urgent?
4. Is the problem Underserved?
Evaluate whether your breakthrough proposition is unique and compelling
Measure potential customer adoption. Discuss how hard it will be for customers to learn to use your proposed product by identifying pains and gains. You are looking for a 10x gain to pain ratio – if lower, customers will typically “do nothing”.
Build the value proposition using this template:

For [target customer] who [statement of the need or opportunity] our [product/service name] is [product category] that [statement of benefit].**

Master and adapt the play to fit your context and needs.

“Here’s what our product can do” is very different from “Here’s what you can do with our product” (Jason Fried)

Present customer research as a precursor to this exercise

Make sure to craft your value proposition so that it is easily testable with your target customers

Value Proposition Statement is one of the cards in this deck

Get this strategy in the Business Model Patterns card deck.

Compare ways to create value and earn revenue with your team.

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Sources