I spend a lot of time with clients talking about THEIR ideal client and the value proposition. When I introduced the Business Model Canvas a few weeks ago I touched on both – so this week I want to delve more deeply into the Value Proposition – the Ideal Client will feature next week!
You know I love a dictionary definition – so what is the Value Proposition? “the promise of value to be delivered”
Your Value Proposition is so much more than just a list of products – and services – we have to go much much deeper than that. And when we do this work – and the ideal client work – there is a fair amount of circling back round to get it right! Different customers will value different things.
Who’s your ideal client – and what do they want from you
What are you providing and who is it for!
Think of Starbucks. (other global multinational coffee chains are available).
What do they “sell”?
A cup of Coffee? Hmmm – but I can get coffee in a number of different places, or I can even make it at home.
So what do they sell? Why do people go there?
- Their type of coffee in their unique cups?
- The Starbucks experience – the same the world over?
- The location (they can afford the prime rent areas)?
- The opportunity to go and sit with a friend and chat?
- Cake?!
We don’t have a Starbucks in Stirling (other than on the uni campus) but I generally choose to go to an independent coffee shop – why do I do that?
The point is – I can get COFFEE in a number of different places – but I choose to go to a local guy where I get to know him and he lives locally and pays taxes etc etc.
Your customers will decide to come to you for different reasons.
As a small business you are unique – because no one else is you!
But what you need to work out is what (other than yourself) makes you different – great personal service? Understanding client needs? Fantastic cake? The cups you use? The books and comfy chairs?
The coffee is often incidental – it’s the whole experience (we talked about customer experience last week). It’s the price point – at the right price for the customer you want to attract.
Your ideal customer might want and expect high quality (waiter service rather than queuing) and will pay a premium for it. Or you might be in a low rent area of town and focus on speedy service at a lower price – but you need to understand WHO you are serving and WHO you want to serve! So I am not an ideal customer for Starbucks because I value things that they don’t deliver.
Think also of your processes – do you sell the same product as someone else but in a novel way? Think of all the things we now subscribe to such as dishwasher tablets, razors and pet supplements. You still need to understand WHO the customer for this is – and why they will buy this way. Not everyone will – although the pandemic has certainly shifted people more to this way of thinking.
What other novel ways of getting your products or services to the customer can you think of? (I’ll also look at this in more detail in coming weeks).
And talking of subscriptions – you can pay a monthly subscription to my club to help you work ON your business in the company of other business owners! Not unique in some ways – but there are some aspects which are- such as me and the particular content I deliver – so give me a shout if you want to find out more.
Get in touch if you’d like to chat about how I can help.