Innovation Series: Delivering Value with Bernard Putz PhD
An Interview on value proposition creation and more with Bernard J. Putz PhD, VP of Consumer Lending and Transformation at First Tech Federal Credit Union, Entrepreneur, and Growth Expert.
Career Snapshot:
Bernard worked in businesses ranging from startups to Fortune 50. After completing his PhD in organizational psychology and MBA he worked as transformation consultant at CapGemini/E&Y, innovation and change consultant at Deloitte, Chief of Staff, global brand manager, global strategy lead, and co-founder in a variety of startups. His biggest “A ha”…. after a few startup failures …. you never stop learning what not to do.
What is a Value Proposition?
A value proposition tells prospects why they should do business with you versus anyone else and how your solution solves their problem in the best way. This is what differentiates you from competitors. You need to occupy a distinct spot in the prospect’s mind.
How does a business create their unique value proposition?
The best tool I have found is called the Value Proposition Canvas. It’s power comes in creating focus. Who is your target customer? What is their aim and what “job” do they need to accomplish? What exceeds their expectations?
A fundamental question is understanding how big is the problem in the customer’s eyes, or how important is the job they are trying to get done versus how much effort and energy it takes to implement your solution.
How does a business gauge the success of the value proposition?
People usually give a variety of answers such as sales and ROI. I believe it comes down to two things. First is customer impact - the observable/measurable changes in customer behavior that show that your product/service solves their problem and continues to be competitive. Second, is if the impact is sticky enough to overcome customer’s switching costs so they continue to work with you.
Does a value proposition change as the company matures/evolves?
This is a tough question since value is a perception and people’s minds change over time. Competitors also enter as soon as you are successful. You need to regularly re-evaluate your value proposition given what you are seeing, hearing, feeling from your customers. In some cases, it may mean tweaking your value proposition, in other cases it may mean pivoting the product, service, or company.
Can value propositions be used in other areas aside from business?
Yes. Value propositions are about focus. These techniques can be used to hone your career positioning, to writing books, to do pretty much anything where you want to let others know how you, or your idea, or your efforts are uniquely positioned to help them succeed.
Final recommendation:
Listen closely to customers, the market, and be honest and truthful with yourself and your team. Many of these concepts have been around for ages. Yet companies still struggle. The primary reason is that founders, CEOs, and boards, are often not honest with themselves or each other. It now becomes a question of psychology, leadership, and alignment. Too often I have seen that because of a lack of clarity/focus, and little open and honest discourse executive teams and the next level of leaders aren’t all in sync.
Value propositions are hard work, requiring a balance between brutal candor based on market and customer behavior and a driven passion and belief that your solution is the right one. Just make sure you don’t fall into the trap of “the emperor has no clothes."