Your business value proposition is the most important MESSAGE you can convey to your customers. The value proposition tells your prospective clients in a very clear manner why they should choose your services and products over your competitors. It tells customers what you bring to the table to make their lives easier, more comfortable, and more entertaining, in short how you solve some of their most pressing issues by reducing some of the stressors while bringing them various advantages. And it’s not only about easing up or solving some of the challenges there are facing, but it also can be about status, about the experience about how your product or service makes them look or feel. So, let’s dive into some examples of well-constructed value propositions and see why they stand out, what kind of value propositions one can construct and briefly how to design a value proposition for your business.
– Warby Parker
Born in 2010, a rather young company, Warby Parker is an American brand that today produces prescription glasses, contact lenses and sunglasses. The company was born as an affordable alternative to the super high-priced prescription glasses/frames available on the market at the time. With a competitive direct-to-consumer business model, based on the in-house design of the products, which as you may already know big eyewear companies don’t do, they’ve succeeded in creating a lovable brand enjoying a high NPS (Net Promoter Score) – meaning high customer satisfaction, with clients willing to recommend the brand to other colleagues/friends.
What is their value proposition? “We provide higher-quality, better-looking prescription eyewear at a fraction of the going price”, or at the early stages of the business “We offer designer eyewear at a revolutionary price, in a convenient manner.”
Why does it work? Well, for a number of reasons: it’s simple, straightforward, it offers a competitive advantage, it states what it does for the customer or what customer pains it releases:
- You get to have a pair of designer eyewear (which means quality and stylish, right?) at an affordable price. To back this up, Warby Parker’s products are made by a team of designers, from premium materials sourced from Italy, at an affordable price (they design and produce the products in-house) – starting 95$, lenses included.
- …in a convenient manner: one can try on 5 frames without leaving home – that as well solves a lot of the pain points of the clients. We know the hustle when needing to buy a pair of eyewear of sunglasses – the walk to the store, the tens of brands and shapes, the trying on, but you are almost never sure what to buy, or if you can afford it, so you decide to take your time to think and return to store to start the process one more time.
Warby Parker makes customers’ lives easier: they can pick their favorite style online and try it at home, for free, in a 5 days’ timeframe, meaning they have more time to try the glasses on and get the opinions of their loved ones (we know they matter). In case they are not a good fit, customers can return the pairs free of charge.
But they didn’t forget about customers that are in search of an in-store experience, so they listened and today they have nearly 200 stores in the US, where people can also take an eye exam and get a new prescription. And it gets easier- in case the vision hasn’t changed, they can renew their prescription and order the lenses and frames directly from the comfort of their home. To add to the experiences, they haven’t forgotten about the ones that can’t afford a pair of glasses – so for every sold pair they donate another to the ones in need.
By providing great experiences for their customers, and extending the products and services line, while also creating impact, Warby Parker has gained market share and is a well-known and growing brand.
Back to the value proposition – only by reading it, isn’t Warby Parker a brand that catches your attention? Wouldn’t you like to experience it?
Noom is another good example.
Noom promises its customers weight loss in a healthy manner and long-lasting change. Theirs is a psychology-based approach that helps people change the way they think and feel about eating versus all the other restrictive yet famous diets out there that tell them what to eat.
Why does it work?
How many diets has the world tried? Many and very restrictive, and once one stops “dieting” the weight is back on. Noom promises its customers that they will succeed in losing weight while eating healthy but not fad and that the result will last for a lifetime. Isn’t this clever?
To do that they developed an app launched in 2016 that helps customers create better habits, take control of their calories and teaches them to eat mindfully. We can’t say if the app delivers and if it really isn’t “just another diet” as we haven’t tried it, but it has been a great solution for the 45 million subscribers that have chosen Noom.
– Mailchimp
Mailchimp is an email marketing and marketing automation platform designed to grow your business. Turn emails into revenue. Win new customers with the No. 1* brand in email marketing and automation, and get actionable tips to increase open rates, click-through rates, and sales.
Why does it work?
It is clear, it tells customers what the platform can do for them and makes some strong statements like the no 1 brand in email marketing based on publicly available data from competing brands on the number of customers worldwide in 2021/2022 and it tells prospective customers that by using the platform they will grow their business. Reading Mailchimp’s story you can see they started by giving small business owners a strong platform that provided the same advantages as larger companies, at a convenient price. Now they offer their services to marketing teams of all sizes and levels but still haven’t forgotten about small businesses.
Today, according to available data, Mailchimp has about 11 million active customers and a total audience of about 4 billion users.
All three brands have constructed their value propositions so that they can be simple, unique, and measurable. They’ve all attracted millions of customers and stood out from their competition.
How does the value proposition create value for customers?
There are a number of elements responding to customers’ needs that are embedded in value propositions and create value. The elements can be qualitative, meaning that they offer design, great customer experience, accessibility, or status, or quantitative – meaning price and cost reduction.
Here are some elements that can contribute to customer value creation, and make you differentiate your business from your competition. Or simply put, some value propositions your service or product may offer:
Brand / Status: remember that in the beginning, we talked about how brands make people feel. They don’t necessarily solve a problem, but they make them feel good. So, customers can find value in wearing or having a brand: Rolex is a good example.
Design can also be valued by customers. Think of MacBooks Air with design being an important element of the value proposition.
Cost reduction: reducing costs is another important element that creates value.
Performance: improving service or product performance could be another way to create value for your customers. The electronic devices industry has often used this value to compete in the market.
Newness: brands can rely on this element by creating services or products that respond to new customers’ needs that no one in the market has thought about.
“Getting the job done”: a business can create value for its customers by promising them it would help with some of their jobs that need to be done.
Accessibility is another element that can create value, meaning that a brand can make its service or product accessible to customers that previously had not had the chance to use or access it.
Depending on the customer segment your business addresses, and the products and services you are providing, you can use one or more elements to create value for them.
How to create a value proposition?
The process is rather long, but if you take your time to gather information on your prospective customers and see how you could create value for them through your products or services, you can build a value proposition that makes your business stand out.
Know your customers, know what jobs they need to perform, what are their pains – obstacles that hold them back in performing the job, or risks they fear if something isn’t working, and gains – the results or benefits that customers desire or expect. That is the first step in building your value proposition. Once you do that, you must see how your products or services respond to customers’ needs, and how they release stress or risks and bring value to them. This way, you can see if there’s a fit between what your customer wants and how you respond to its needs.
Once you have your value proposition, test it against your competitors and with some of your prospective clients. Note that you can build value propositions for each of your products, or you can design a value proposition statement for your business.
Mark it helps companies in the process of creating their value propositions and designing dedicated and specific communication to reach the target in the best manner.
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