Does your business have a customer value proposition? Many business owners overlook this crucial step, assuming their value proposition is obvious. This is only sometimes the case. Here’s what you need to know about creating a solid value proposition statement for your organization.

What Is a Unique Value Proposition?

A customer value proposition, or a unique selling proposition or USP, summarizes the unique benefit your company provides through its products or services. In other words, why should your target audience buy what you’re selling?

It’s not the same as a mission statement about your company. It’s also not a tagline, which is often catchy but vague. The value proposition is about what you sell and why it’s great. In a Venn sales and marketing diagram, the USP sits in the middle, whereas a tagline would fall somewhere between marketing and branding.

As a business owner, you’ve likely given this much thought. For your employees, though, it’s not intuitive. Leaving them to guess or summarize your USP independently creates a muddied message for potential buyers.

You’ll need to make your customer value proposition clear internally to your employees and customers on your website or during a sales pitch. Despite its importance, you would be surprised that many business owners need concise help articulating their value proposition.

How to Write a Value Proposition

Whether revamping your message or starting from scratch, the steps are the same.

First, could you clear your main selling point? It’s not enough to know only what your product does or what gap it’s filling in the marketplace. Why should your target customer choose your product or service specifically? What sets you apart from your competitors?

Once you have that in mind, it’s time to summarize your customer value proposition in a short, memorable statement that you can feature prominently on your website and in your marketing and sales materials.

Ready to give it a shot? Here are three tips to consider when crafting your customer value proposition.

1. Be real. Customers can see through generic sales language like “best” or “number one,” especially if it’s an exaggeration. If you’re boiling your selling points down to one sentence, it’s better to be specific. What exactly makes you the best? Is it your price point? What materials do you use? Focus on that instead.
2. Be persuasive. The purpose of your USP is to convince customers to buy. Don’t get bogged down with industry jargon. Keep your audience in mind and confidently communicate what they need to know.
3. Be one-of-a-kind. Your value proposition should be unique to your company and product or service. It shouldn’t be something that could refer to your competition. What would make someone choose your product over other similar products?

Is your value statement working for your company? A business coach can help. You can click here to schedule a complimentary video call with Coach Dave to workshop your customer value proposition.

Coach Dave