Value Propositions
Generic framework
“For (people who are having the problem) who are (thing they are trying to do), (name of your solution) delivers (benefit 1, benefit 2, benefit 3), unlike (competitor 1), which only does (blah 1) or (competitor 2) l, which only does (blah 2), so that (people) can (realize full benefits).”
Specific example
For alabama football fans who are trying to find reasonably priced tickets to away games, Crimson Ticket to Ride delivers prime seats at reasonable prices with minimal transfer hassle, unlike Stubhub, which only shows you bid prices... so that Alabama football fans can focus on supporting their team.”
value propositions
A value proposition succinctly states for whom you are solving a problem, what the problem is, what your "bundle of value" is that you are providing, and what the benefits are that your VP's features deliver.
Keywords for me when thinking about a value proposition:
- Congruence: the features and benefits must logically "map" onto the attributes of the problem (person, situation, type of pain/problem)
- Simple (but not necessarily easy): you should make the VP as simple to understand as possible. You'll use it as a shorthand to communicate the value of your solution to potential customers, investors, suppliers and distributors, employees, and other important stakeholders. By "not necessarily easy," I mean that the VP is one of the "hardest-working" sentences you will create to describe your idea / offering / venture.
How to Think About Value Propositions
The Airbnb 11-Star Check-In Experience with Brian Chesky In order to come up with an ideal 5-star experience for customers sometimes it's useful to extrapolate to an 11-star experience. So be like Spinal Tap and turn your VP concept up to 11.
This approach is one of the more useful ways to think about the "potential gains" component of the value proposition canvas..
Congruence
Whatever do you mean?
If you think about the concept of congruence in Euclidean geometry you get the relationship shown in the accompanying diagram. Both the angles and sides of the original triangle ABC are congruent with triangle A'B'C', which makes both triangles congruent.
This is why it's important to break down the attributes of a big pain or problem you are solving for someone. Think about triangle ABC as an abstract representation of a big pain a person experiences. You should think about the components of your value proposition (aka, your brilliant solution) as triangle A'B'C'. If I identify three key attributes of a big pain (let's say financial cost, loss of time, and physical pain) then the three key attributes (features) of your value proposition should prevent or mitigate a financial pain, loss of time, and physical pain. *That's* congruence.
OK so what's "incongruence?"
A student of mine once pitched an idea for a drive-through food service that offers only healthy foods (particularly relevant on March 30, 2020). He described the pain of not wanting to get out of his car, wanting healthy food offerings, and a menu that wouldn't empty his wallet. His description of the value proposition went on to describe how he would use only recycled materials ("my food?!") and LED lights.
I think you can see how the attributes of the value proposition do not "line up" with the attributes of the big pain he described. This will confuse the audience about what problem you are really trying to solve, or, even worse, make you look like you don't know what you are talking about.
