Just got off the ‘phone from a client called Andrew, who runs a small (but ambitious) life-sciences consultancy. He’s helping strategic functions in large pharma companies add more value to their businesses. It was an ‘it’s-been-a-while-how-are-you-just-calling-to-check-in’ call. In the summer, I had worked with Andrew and his team on their ‘value proposition’ (VP), or their offer of value to their market.
A better value proposition, for more traction
Andrew’s business had some heavyweight experience and a track record in the sector. However, their ‘overview’ slide deck to attract potential clients hadn’t been getting traction. They knew they needed a more compelling value proposition to scale the business.
In a half-day workshop I challenged every word of the slide deck. We stripped their offer back to the basics:
- Who’s your ideal client and why?
- What’s their major headache/challenge/problem?
- What would the benefits be to them of removing that headache?
- What qualifies you to be able to help them?
- What’s unique/special about you/your approach?
As a result of their new-found clarity on what they offer the market, Andrew refined their ‘parent’ value proposition to produce a family of ‘child’ value propositions. There was one for each specific business function in their clients’ organisations. Each one reflected the varying needs of each function. This also unlocked a whole new revenue stream that could be his path to hypergrowth.
Andrew’s value proposition
Andrew and his team are now super-clear about the value they offer to whom, how and why. Clarity brings higher levels of certainty, market engagement and, ultimately, business.
Confidence is another by-product of clarity. A joy in the VP workshop was seeing them uncover the confidence to approach new markets. They were also now prepared to give their clients confidence in their analysis-led decisions — as a core value and potential differentiator from the competition. They’re now building on this in their branding and marketing.
And it all happened in one day’s work, with a client who had the courage to commit to nailing their value proposition.
Your value proposition
I turn 60 next year. As I survey my 38 years’ experience, I see B2B comms as the single biggest challenge facing UK SMEs. Small businesses are the engine room of the economy, and should express their offers of value to their markets in clear, concise and compelling ways. Think of it as sequencing a business’ DNA.
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