6 Value Proposition Templates

Use these value proposition templates to start crafting your own. You probably
won’t end up using these ideas word for word, but they’ll give you a great
starting point.

1. Geoff Moore’s Value Positioning Statement

In Geoff Moore’s seminal book, Crossing the Chasm, he suggests the

following template for writing your value proposition.

For [target customer] who [statement of the need or opportunity], our

[product/service name] is [product category] that [statement of benefit].

Example: “For non-technical marketers who struggle to find return on

investment in social media, our product is a web-based analytics software that
translates engagement metrics into actionable revenue metrics.”

2. Steve Blank’s XYZ

Here is perhaps the simplest value proposition template from Steve Blank.
We help [X] to [Y] by [Z].

Example: “We help parents spend more quality time with their kids by
providing parent-friendly play areas.”

3. Venture Hacks’ High-Concept Pitch

This value proposition template from Venture Hacks leverages businesses
that already exist in your industry to craft your own unique value proposition.
[Proven industry example] for/of [new domain].
Example: “Flickr for video.”

4. Peter Sandeen’s Value Proposition

Peter Sandeen says the idea is to “hit people over the head with what makes
you different.”
What makes you valuable? (Collect all of the most persuasive reasons
people should notice you and take the action you’re asking for.)
Can you prove that? (Use studies, testimonials, social proof, etc. to prove
your claim.)
5. Customer-Problem-Solution
Vlaskovits and Cooper use what they call a Customer-Problem-Solution
value proposition template.
Customer: [who your target audience is] Problem: [what problem you’re
solving for the customer] Solution: [what is your solution to the
problem]

Example: “Customer: I believe my best customers are small and medium-

sized business (SMB) markets. Problem: Who cannot easily measure
campaign ROI because existing solutions are too expensive, complicated to
deploy, display a dizzying array of non-actionable charts. Solution: Low cost,
easy to deploy analytics system designed for non-technical marketers who
need actionable metrics.”

6. Dave McClure’s Elevator Ride

Dave McClure suggests a 3-step checklist for writing your unique value
proposition.
Short, simple, memorable; what, how, why.
3 keywords or phrases
KISS (no expert jargon)
Example: “Mint.com is the free, easy way to manage your money online.”

Check out this post for more value proposition templates.

That’s it! In this guide, you learned what a value proposition is, and you saw
32 value proposition examples that are impossible to resist. You also learned
how to write a value proposition with a value proposition canvas and 6
templates.

Now it’s your turn. Go ahead and use these examples as inspiration to craft
your own value proposition, so you can start standing out from the
competition!

So I've put together 7 proven templates that are designed to help you
create a clear, compelling value proposition in minutes.

#1 Geoff Moore's Value Positioning Statement

Probably the most popularized - in his seminal book Crossing the Chasm
- Geoff Moore suggests a specific template for outlining your
value positioning. In addition to the first part below, Moore also
introduces a second statement focused on competitive positioning.
Template
For ____________ (target customer)
who ____________ (statement of the need or opportunity)
our (product/service name) is ____________ (product category)
that (statement of benefit) ____________ .
Sample(s)
For non-technical marketers
who struggle to find return on investment in social media
our product is a web-based analytics software that translates engagement
metrics into actionable revenue metrics.

#2 Venture Hacks' High-Concept Pitch

In Made to Stick, Dan and Chip Heath point to how high-concept pitches
such as 'Jaws on a spaceship' (Alien) and 'Die Hard on a bus' (Speed)
convince movie executives to invest vast sums of money in a project on
the basis of almost no information.
In Pitching Hacks Nivi and Navel from Venture Hacks share examples of
this technique applied to startups.
Template
[Proven industry example] for/of [new domain].
Sample(s)
Flickr for video.
Friendster for dogs.
The Firefox of media players.

#3 Steve Blank's XYZ

Steve Blank writes that a Value Proposition is a ten-dollar phrase
describing a company’s product or service. It’s the “what are you building
and selling?" He suggests the following format for creating a value
proposition statement that other people understand.
Template
“We help X do Y doing Z”.
Sample(s)
We help non-technical marketers discover return on investment in social
media by turning engagement metrics into revenue metrics.
#4 Vlaskovits & Cooper's CPS
In their Cheat Guide to Customer Development Cooper and Vlaskovits use
what they call a Customer-Problem-Solution presentation.
Template
Customer: ____________ (who your customer is).
Problem: ____________(what problem you're solving for the
customer).
Solution: ____________ (what is your solution for the problem).
Sample(s)
Customer: I believe my best customers are small and medium-sized
business (SMB) markets.
Problem: Who cannot easily measure campaign ROI because existing
solutions are too expensive, complicated to deploy, display a dizzying
array of non-actionable charts.
Solution: Low cost, easy to deploy analytics system designed for non-
technical marketers who need actionable metrics.

#5 Dave McClure's Elevator Ride

In his How to Pitch a VC presentation Dave McClure presents a 3-step
check list for creating positioning statements.
Template
 Short, simple, memorable; what, how, why.
 3 keywords or phrases
 KISS (no expert jargon)
Sample(s)
 "Mint.com is the free, easy way to manage your money online."

#6 David Cowan's Pitchcraft

Although a more elaborative one David Cowan shares some useful
guidelines in Practicing the Art of Pitchcraft. I've put together a summary.
Template
 1.Highlight the enormity of the problem you are tackling.
2.Tell the audience up front what your company sells.
3.Distill the differentiation down to one, easy-to-comprehend sentence.
4.Establish credibility by sharing the pedigree of the entrepreneurs,
customers, or the investors.
Sample(s)
One person dies of melanoma every 62 minutes.
We offer a dermatoscope app for iPhone that enables people to easily
diagnose their skin,
leveraging patented pattern recognition technology trusted by the World
Health Organization.

#7 Eric Sink's Value Positioning

Eric Sink writes that marketing is somewhat like an iceberg - the part
sticking out of the water is highly visible. For this Eric suggests the
following format for positioning.
Template
Superlative ("why choose this product").
Label ("what is this product").
Qualifiers ("who should choose this product").
Sample(s)
The easiest operating system for netbook PC's.
The most secure payment gateway for mobile e-commerce.

Bonus: The VAD approach

In a previous blog post on value propositions I set out to learn from Guy
Kawasaki. On his blog I found that Guy takes a verb-application-
differentiator approach in describing the startups that he's working with.
Template
[verb; application; differentiator]
Sample(s)
Share PowerPoint and Keynote slides including audio (Slideshare).
Create and write blogs via email (Posterous).
Make VOIP calls easily and cheaply (JaJah).

The bottom line

Dear child has many names; elevator speeches, high-concept pitches,
value positioning, unique selling proposition, positioning statement
etc. The Value Proposition is not only about telling people about your
product. It's also an important technique for describing your Minimum
Viable Product and testing what product or features to build.
Whether you're battling investors in the elevator, optimizing conversion
rates on your website, or boosting PR, crafting a clear, compelling value
proposition is not easy. It takes trial and error.
But the take-away is worth it as you will start getting meetings and
converting more customers. What is your value proposition example?
What template do you prefer?

Since readers seemed to find my 7 Proven Templates For Writing Value

Propositions That Work useful, I thought I’d pull together 3 more proven
templates that help you quickly sketch out a winning value proposition

#1 Clay Christensen’s Jobs-to-be-done

According to Harvard Business School Professor Clay Christensen,
designing an innovative customer value proposition begins with
genuinely understanding the customer's jobs-to-be-done (JTBD).
JTBD is not a product, service, or a specific solution; it's the higher
purpose for which customers buy products, services, and solutions. Its
premise is that customers don't really buy products. They "hire" them to
do a job. Instead of asking what products customers want to buy, the
JTBD method asks what fundamental problems they hope to address.
The authors of The Innovator’s Toolkit suggest using a “job statement” to
describe a JTBD.
Template
Action verb: _________
Object of action: _________
Contextual identifier: _________.
Sample(s)
“Manage personal finances at home”. (Mint.com)
“Preserving fun memories.” (Kodak’s Funsaver)
“Listen to music while jogging.” (iPod)

#2 Simon Sinek’s WHY

According to Simon Sinek, “People don’t buy what you do; people buy
why you do it.” Sinek’s Golden Circle framework shows you how to turn
an idea into a social movement by leading a focus on WHY.
This step-by-step process teaches you to clarify your Why, articulate your
Hows, and the importance of being consistent in What you do.
Template
Why: ___________
How: ___________
What: ___________
Sample(s)
Why: In everything we do, we believe in challenging the status quo. We
believe in thinking differently.
How: The way we challenge the status quo is by making our products
beautifully designed, simple to use, and user friendly.
What: We just happen to make computers.

#3 The Minto Pyramid aka SCQA

SCQA – Situation, Complication, Question, and Answer – also known
as The Minto Pyramid Principle, helps you organize ideas to write
compelling business documents. It be memos, presentations, emails,
blog posts or – key to all the former – value propositions.
Template
Situation - describe what is the current situation
Complication - describe the issue in the situation
Question - describe the question in response to the issue
Answer - suggest answer to ease out or mitigate the issue
Sample(s)
With the rise of smartphones and online video the use of data has
exploded.
Consequently, wireless networks become congested and slow.
How can mobile operators increase their quality of service?
Our patented routing algorithm helps mobile operators radically increase
throughput.