Value Proposition and Unique Selling Proposition

VALUE PROPOSITION AND UNIQUE SELLING
PROPOSITION
A value proposition is a simple statement
that summarizes why a customer would
choose your product or service.
Customers are very specific when it comes

to their needs and their desired benefits, so
the value proposition should cater to those
particular needs
How to write a value proposition: 3 options
1. Map out a value proposition canvas

2. Ask Harvard Business School’s essential questions
To create an integrated, cohesive value proposition, start by

brainstorming as a group around these three questions:
 Which customers are you going to serve?
 Which needs are you going to meet?
 What relative price will provide acceptable value for customers
and acceptable profitability for the customer?
3. Try the Steve Blank formula to distill your insights
 Steve Blank, a former Google employee who runs the Lean

Startup Circle, noticed that many startup founders emphasize
features instead of benefits when they try to transform more
detailed insights into a succinct value proposition.
WE HELP (X) DO (Y) BY DOING (Z).
Use Blank’s intuitive template to come up with your own value proposition.
Remember that the first thing that comes to mind may be the best. Your gut instinct could
be spot on here, and that’s what makes this simple solution so valuable.
Here’s a value proposition for a copywriting business, for example:
“I help marketing teams to resonate with their target audiences by communicating

with clarity and compassion.”
Your local coffee shop may have a value proposition that’s similar to this one:
“We help our local customers to feel good and do good by fueling them up with
artisanal coffee in a community-focused space.”
Ate Josie’s Sari-Sari Store
Situation analysis:
Prior to the establishment of a sari-sari store, Ate Josie notices that there is a convenience store in her
vicinity, where many call center agents, nurses, and construction workers buy food, beverages, and other
products during odd hours (10PM to 6AM). She discovers that the customers either ride a tricycle or a jeepney
just to reach the convenience store. There are two sari-sari stores nearby, but they close at 9PM. Ate Josie
believes this is an opportunity for a sari-sari store business with a twist. Ate Josie realizes she needs to address
the needs of the customers to differentiate her business from the competition. She decides to establish a 24/7
sari-sari store herself. As an initial investment, Ate Josie hires three employees who will help her run the sari-
sari store in three shifts. During their break, Ate Josie mans sari-sari herself. She designs her sari-sari store like
a semi-convenience store, where customers can freely go and choose the product they want. It is also air-
conditioned. For security purposes, also installs a CCTV camera. Her task now is to craft a worthwhile value
proposition for the potential customers.
Proposed value proposition:
“Tindahang maaasahan, bukas kahit anong oras!”
It is specific and straight to the point. It describes what the business

is by referring to tindahan - a Filipino term for a basic retail store. It
highlights the value to the customers that they can buy their basic
necessities from the store.
Unique selling proposition (USP) refers to
how you will sell the product or service to
your customers.
It addresses the customers’ wants and desires.

After you create your value proposition, you
have to figure out how to advertise or
promote certain unique features of the
product or service that you’re trying to sell.
For example, Charles Revson, founder of Revlon (cosmetics), always used to
say he sold hope, not makeup.
Some airlines sell friendly service, while others sell on-time service. Neiman
Marcus sells luxury, while Wal-Mart sells bargains.
Here's how to uncover your USP and use it to power up your sales:
1. Identify and rank the uniqueness of the product or service attribute .
The most difficult part because you need to choose one or two at the
most. The attribute will compel customers to purchase from you and not
from your competitors, so it will be the key to success.

2. Put yourself in your customer's shoes.
 Entrepreneurs fall in love with their product or service and forget

that it is the customer's needs, not their own, that they must satisfy.
 Step back from your daily operations and carefully scrutinize what
your customers really want.
3. Be very specific.
 Effective marketing requires you to be an amateur

psychologist. You need to know what drives and motivates
customers.
 Go beyond the traditional customer demographics, such as age,

gender, race, income and geographic location, that most
businesses collect to analyze their sales trends.
4. KISS (Keep it short and simple)
 One challenge that marketers always face is that the customers’

attention span is limited and very easy to switch.
 Therefore, think of a very catchy unique selling proposition in

the simplest and shortest way possible
Selling Proposition.
o The first step is the identification and ranking of uniqueness of the product
or service attribute using the 7Ps of marketing.
o Make sure that you support your ranking with rational explanation and
analysis.
7Ps Product/Service Place Price Promotion People Packaging Process
USP Retail products Near a Competitive Signage Three Semi- The
Description BPO, a shifts of Convenience only
public Ate store sari-sari
hospital and Josie’s store
a assistants that
construction (6am – operates
site 2pm, 24
2pm – hours a
10pm, day, 7
10pm – days a
6am) week
Unique? No No No No Yes Yes Yes
Ranking of 3 2 1
USPs
 The process was ranked first as the most unique because Ate Josie wants to
solve a compelling problem of the customers, i.e., the availability of a retail
store near their workplace in odd hours. This was based on the marketing
research about her environment.
 Packaging was ranked second because it is only semi-convenience store

in the area, a hybrid of a convenience store that has three persons who
work in shifts.
 People ranked third because it is the only sari-sari store that has three
persons who work in shifts. It is common that the owner or an
assistant attend to the store with a predetermined schedule, and not the
entire day.
Proposed unique selling proposition (USP):
“Tindahang maasahan, bukas kahit anong oras!”

You will notice that the proposed value proposition and unique
selling proposition are the same. Why?
Because the most compelling differentiating factor is positioning, the value

proposition is also the perfect unique selling proposition, considering all
the factors enumerated were all met (defined unique attribute, specific, and
short/simple).
Both the value proposition and unique selling proposition
should be clearly communicated to the target customers in the
catchiest way possible. Common communication channels
include signage, Web sites, social media, print ads, television,
and radio commercials, and mobile advertisements.

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VALUE PROPOSITION AND UNIQUE SELLING

Customers are very specific when it comes

1. Map out a value proposition canvas

To create an integrated, cohesive value proposition, start by

 Steve Blank, a former Google employee who runs the Lean

Here’s a value proposition for a copywriting business, for example:

“I help marketing teams to resonate with their target audiences by communicating

It is specific and straight to the point. It describes what the business

It addresses the customers’ wants and desires.

1. Identify and rank the uniqueness of the product or service attribute .

from your competitors, so it will be the key to success.

 Entrepreneurs fall in love with their product or service and forget

 Effective marketing requires you to be an amateur

 Go beyond the traditional customer demographics, such as age,

 One challenge that marketers always face is that the customers’

 Therefore, think of a very catchy unique selling proposition in

 Packaging was ranked second because it is only semi-convenience store

Proposed unique selling proposition (USP):

“Tindahang maasahan, bukas kahit anong oras!”

Because the most compelling differentiating factor is positioning, the value

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