alexe-ev Craft Value Proposition
Purpose
Help teams articulate a clear, specific value proposition — the concrete benefit delivered to a specific user in a specific situation — that can anchor messaging, onboarding, and sales conversations.
Skill type
Conceptual skill
Use this skill when
- A product or feature lacks a clear value proposition
- Messaging describes features but not user outcomes
- Sales or CS struggles to explain why users should care
- A value proposition needs to be updated after a product change
Do not use this skill when
- The goal is positioning (internal strategic choice — use define-strategic-positioning)
- The goal is full messaging and copy development (use develop-positioning-messaging)
Required inputs
- Product or feature being described
- Target user segment
- Core job or problem the product addresses
Optional inputs
- User research findings
- Win/loss data
- Customer testimonials or reviews
- Competitive alternatives
Upstream context
Works best when:
- Target segment is defined
- JTBD is understood
- Positioning exists
Downstream handoff
Output can feed:
- develop-positioning-messaging (value proposition → full messaging framework)
- enable-sales-cs (value proposition goes into sales brief)
- plan-product-launch (value proposition anchors launch messaging)
Instructions
- Identify the target user and their primary job or problem.
- Identify the outcome the product delivers (not features — outcomes).
- Identify why this product delivers the outcome better than alternatives.
- Draft a value proposition statement: "[Product] helps [user] [achieve outcome] by [mechanism], unlike [alternative]."
- Test specificity: would this statement fit any product in the category? If yes, it's too generic.
- Validate against user language from research (use their words, not internal jargon).
Output
Provide:
- Value proposition statement
- Target user
- Core job or problem addressed
- Outcome delivered
- Differentiation from alternatives
- Specificity test result
- Alternative formulations (2–3 variants)
- Language to avoid (internal jargon that users don't use)
Risks / caveats
- "Saves time and money" is not a value proposition — quantify or specify
- Value propositions must be validated with users — internal confidence is not enough
- Don't confuse features with value: features are what it does; value is what users get