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What is a value proposition?

Learn how LinkedIn Sales Navigator can help you communicate your unique value proposition to customers

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Crafting a compelling value proposition is the key to revealing the distinct advantages of buying a product or service.

In this guide, we’ll explain what is a value proposition and why it matters for sales organizations. We’ll also review different examples and techniques for writing unique value propositions that sell.

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What is a value proposition?

A value proposition, or value statement, is an introduction salespeople can use to communicate how customers will benefit from a product or service and why prospects should care. It also explains what sets the sales organization apart. This part of the value proposition is also known as the unique selling proposition, or USP, which helps customers understand why they should choose one solution over another.

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Sales value proposition vs. employee value proposition

Sales teams use value propositions when speaking with or directly messaging prospective clients to convince them to buy a product or service. The messages are often developed with the help of a marketing team that'll use similar messaging in ads and other marketing campaigns. Recruiters and human resources professionals also use employee value propositions. However, they aim to communicate the value of working for a new company or taking on a new role rather than buying something. For this guide, we’ll focus on sales value propositions.

Why is a value proposition important for sales teams?

Knowing how to create a value proposition will help sales teams understand how a product or service can solve a prospect’s most significant pain points, how it addresses unmet needs, and how it gives new users a unique edge over their competitors. The more valuable a product or service appears to customers, and the more differentiated its features and benefits are from competitors, the more likely a customer can rationalize paying for it, even when the price is high.

How the value cycle influences customer perceptions

To illustrate value creation and perceptions further, let’s look at the value cycle, which consists of five stages that loop continuously.

Value creation

Businesses must first understand customer needs before developing or upgrading products or services that meet those needs. Value creation informs product design, manufacturing, and testing to make sure the product meets customer expectations again and again.

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Value delivery or consumption

Once money is exchanged for the sale of products or services, customers are in control of the brand message when they share their experience with their friends and colleagues. Effective value delivery can, therefore, boost customer satisfaction, loyalty, and brand advocacy.

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Value capture

Businesses should continuously review a product or service’s pricing and cost management techniques to maximize shareholder profits and enterprise value while minimizing customer and company costs associated with the production and delivery of the product or service.

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Value communication

Businesses must then communicate how customers experience value by using the product or service to satisfy their needs or solve a significant challenge.

 

 

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Value documentation

It is the process of gathering customer feedback and data to improve the value provided by a product or service over time. Value documentation describes product innovation, development, pricing, and service enhancements to address shifting customer needs and preferences.

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Illustration of a directional flow chart for value understanding consisting of value creation, value communication, value delivery, value documentation, and value capture.

By understanding each stage of the value cycle, sales organizations can identify where they need to enhance the customer experience and improve or update their value proposition, which can increase customer loyalty, brand advocacy, retention rates, and long-term revenue growth.

How to develop value propositions

There are foundational steps that sales organizations should take when preparing to write value propositions. Peter Thomson developed “The Value Proposition Canvas” template to help businesses define, write, and continuously improve them.

Value proposition canvas

Illustration of a value proposition canvas template highlighting the product and customer value.

Source: Peter Thomson

This value proposition template is divided into two main sections, the product value map, and the customer profile section.

1. Complete the product value map first

Unless a business is starting from scratch (without a developed product), sales teams can begin by completing the product value map. Teams should list all the features that describe how an existing product or service works. Next, describe the tangible benefits a customer would experience by engaging with the product’s features and functionality, or what it does for them.

 

Businesses need to offer something their competitors do not to drive value. For example, software as a service(SaaS) product features might include customizable templates, free backend analytics and reporting, and unlimited API integrations.

 

Product or service benefits could be 24/7 live customer support, exclusive beta trials for VIP users, or a different payment solution (e.g., a monthly subscription versus annual licensing fees).

 

Finally, consider adding the experience of what it’s like to use the product to a value map. For example, a product might be faster or more reliable (with less downtime) than any other product on the market.

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Don’t forget about competitive analysis

Conduct a strength, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT) analysis to compare how the product or service’s key features, benefits, and user experience compare to leading competitors and alternative solutions or substitutions – like using a spreadsheet instead of a shared SaaS platform.

 

Third-party industry research reports, customer surveys, news articles, and customer feedback can also be helpful here. Create a four-point grid to list all the key differentiators that'd make a prospective customer choose one product over another.

2. Complete the customer profile or buyer persona

Once the product value map is complete, sales and marketing teams can move on to the customer profile section of the “Value Proposition Canvas.”

Illustration of an individual on their laptop with a user profile depicted on the side.

Identify and understand the target market

Organizations should take time to identify and research their target customers’ needs, wants, and fears to create a buyer persona or ideal customer profile (ICP).

 

When conducting research using customer surveys, CRM data, third-party industry reports or whitepapers, and backend user data from web analytics, businesses should look for insights to understand the following:

 

• Who is the target market (e.g., CEOs, Finance VPs, Procurement Specialists, or Marketing Managers)?

 

• What are their responsibilities and decision-making power or influence?

 

• What are their demographic traits (e.g., age range, income level, geographic region, and marital status)?

 

• What are their psychographic traits (e.g., Hobbies, special interests, group or industry organization memberships)?

 

• What do they post and share online regarding their jobs and industry?

 

LinkedIn Sales Navigator can help sales organizations quickly identify user profiles that fit those target buyer personas for gathering further intel about their roles and responsibilities, special interests, and the content they create and share online.

 

Sales pros can then save those leads to their Sales Navigator Account Page to refine their Searches. They can also review a buyer’s degrees of connection via Relationship Explorer to uncover deeper existing and prospective account insights through mutual friends and colleagues.

How to write a value proposition [with examples]

After completing the “Value Proposition Canvas,” it’s time to begin writing.

Below are criteria that help businesses create a unique value proposition that stands out from competitors.

  1. Clarity: It should be clear and easy to understand what the company does.

  2. Brevity: The copy shouldn’t be more than a few sentences long and shouldn’t take the reader more than a few seconds to understand the key messages.

  3. Originality: The message should be unique to the product or service and differentiated from competitors.

  4. Relevance: The description of features and benefits should address how the product or service solves a dire customer need or challenge.

  5. Demonstrates value: The message should communicate the value of selecting one product or service over another.
Illustration of the criteria for a unique value proposition consisting of clarity, brevity, originality, relevance, and demonstrates value.

Value proposition examples

Below are several different types of unique value-proposition examples written from various sales angles.

1. Customer-focused value proposition

This approach aims to meet the needs and wants of the customer first, emphasizing their preferred benefits of using the product.

For example:

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“Automotive advertisers can double their sales revenue in one year and streamline team workflows by migrating to our lead generation platform.”

2. Product- or service-focused value proposition

This type of value proposition highlights how a product or service is the best in its category. For example,

For example:

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“Product X offers the fastest, most reliable internet connection in the United States with 24/7 customer support.”

3. Price-focused value proposition

This approach helps businesses differentiate from competitors based on price. It can be a risky move, as customers may perceive the product or service as having less valuable features or benefits. However, it can also help businesses steal back customers who might have chosen a competitive product based solely on price.

Here’s an example:

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“Adding new seats to our platform is now more affordable than ever, at only $10 per user. That’s a 15% savings compared to our leading competitor.”

4. Innovation-focused value proposition

This customer value proposition showcases how the product or service provides a new solution to a problem.

Quotation mark.
“Product Y is America’s first mini, packable 3D printing device that allows professionals to create new prototypes or models on the go.”

5. Access-focused value proposition

With an access-focused message, this unique value proposition emphasizes the ease and convenience of accessing the product or service.

Quotation mark.
“VIP members of Service Z get unlimited access to our robot office cleaning teams that can be same-day delivered to addresses in Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, and Seattle.”

Writing a winning value proposition takes time

Businesses must take the time to understand and profile their target customers’ greatest pain points, challenges, and needs to write a compelling value proposition. Sales organizations can use market research, CRM tools, and prospecting platforms to identify, segment, and profile customers using buyer personas.

 

Sales organizations can also align those customer profile maps with product maps using a “Value Proposition Canvas” to craft short, clear, differentiated, and solution-focused value propositions. The message should communicate how a product or service solves a prospect’s key challenges and addresses their most pressing needs in just a few sentences.

 

Most consumers will compare several options before making a purchasing decision. It’s critical that a sales organization’s customer value proposition stands out as the best option.

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