Creating and Delivering Your Value Proposition: Managing Customer Experience for Profit First Edition

In the introduction to this book, and in Chapter 1, the authors set the stage for the rest of the story by talking about what a value proposition (VP) is and is not. Unfortunately for me, I had been so brainwashed that I still thought that a VP was what I now know as a positioning statement. A VP is different: a detailed plan “describing the value experience that you deliver” from the customer’s perspective.Once I got the crap out from between my ears I was able to sink my teeth into the book and go crazy with my highlighter. I expect you will have the same reaction when you start reading.The VP is a document which describes in detail how your customers will experience the use of your products and services, how your employees will be motivated to deliver these experiences, how the organization must be aligned to do all this quickly and economically, and how the complete message will be communicated to all stakeholders; customers, prospects, employees, owners and suppliers. Getting all this right is a serious piece of work. Fortunately, our authors recognized this when they wrote this book.The book’s organization walks us through the whole VP creation process. They start with analysing the market and end with a fully developed plan which includes the frequently missing implementation section.To make the VP creation process easier for us, the authors include a broad selection of figures, comparison tables and my favorite – lists of sample questions so we can begin all the necessary conversations with a group of targeted questions which will lead to follow-up questions which will eventually lead to us getting the actionable insight we need to move ahead.BTW: one of the last steps, discussed in Chapter 12, is the creation of the positioning statement. It took over half the book to get there!I can’t imagine anyone reading this book and not coming away with a lot of incredible insights. And the subject is so broad and deep that I am sure that when I reread this book next year I will feel as though my time was well spent and I learned a number of new things.

Most business owners and executives incorrectly define their value proposition. This book reminds us of the real meaning of value propositions and aids in the creation of them through easy to follow systems, steps, and diagrams. It enforces the importance of listening to our customers and designing our offerings with them in mind. Use this book as a resource to understand and create your value proposition. Use your newly defined value proposition to educate your team and accelerate your company's growth plans. Start today by reading this book and educating yourself on the importance of a clearly defined value proposition.

Excellent, detailed, descriptive, actionable. Cindy Barnes is an expert, and it shows. Very useful book.

Most simplest and most concise book on the Customer Value Proposition.

I really got a lot out of this book. It far surpassed my expectations.Sometimes what you think you know can get in the way of what is possible. I already had a reasonable working knowledge of the importance of delivering a valuable customer experience. I expected it to be a good reference book to provide a few useful pointers in refining my value proposition. What I didn't expect was its depth, practicality and substance. It is a well researched and well documented tome which brought a lot of things together for me in a very practical way. The book provides a model for the type of business we need to create to be successful in the 21st century. Then it leads us through a practical step by step guide on how to go about it.It truly puts a customer focus at the forefront of business, in line with strategic direction. It provides an insightful historical context to business and the world views that developed it. It draws on the vectors of broader world trends in business, environment, technology, thinking and other practices; then extrapolates into the fast paced rapidly changing world of our time. In doing so it recognises the need to shift perspective, think and act with integrity, innovate and respond to changing environment quickly, and still remain grounded in core business and principles. It makes some excellent distinctions between traditional business and value focused enterprise. It balances what we offer as our core capacity; the way in which that offer helps our client succeed; and how we sustain our business profitability.The book is well laid out and easy to navigate. Appropriate use of diagrams, anecdotes and examples help to make links and enhance understanding. It asks the right questions at the right time for each key aspect of the process. The tools and templates are deceptively simple to use and I have found myself stopping to consider the application to my own business as I read it through.The book is not a quick read, nor is the work a quick fix. It has made me think deeply about what I am really offering. It is proving to be well worth the exploration and it will be a well thumbed mainstay in my business development library.Laurel FreelandAlchemy Living and LearningCourse and Resources for Evolving Spirits Hearts MindsMelbourne Australia

Written in a very clear, practical style, this book has helped me to understand a brand's value and what customers get when they use a brand. The detail, with plenty of great diagrams, here leaves very little confusion about what you can do to find your value and deliver value to customers.

Great book ! Value propositions are the most useful selling tools marketing has.This is a practical and pragmatic guide which will help you create and build value for your clients . Totally recommended !

This is a very useful framework to think through the true purpose of an organisation and how it’s product or service serves its customers

Having made a few passes through this book (inspectional) and reading the first half in detail I have to say I was a little disappointed.Being virtually the only book to boast "Creating and delivery a value proposition" I'm sad to say it fell a little short of my expectations.While the earlier chapters were promising, providing a good definition of value propositions, and the pros of a value-centric approach to business was an intriguing idea. However, thats about where its originality ended.I found that many of the sections were introductions to other peoples concepts and ideas, and many of the paragraphs appeared to be unnecessary waffle. I found myself frequently skipping back to see what the point of the chapter was and wether it delivered what it promised. I had remained unconvinced.I was expecting more on the topic of creating value, how to measure and quantify it. A new mental model perhaps. But it seemed to be more of a mashup of existing ideas borrowed and augmented to fill the void of what should have been there.Don't get me wrong, a lot of the models the authors referred to are great and I would swear by them and have some of the original books that were referred to. But I felt that the authors have depended too heavily on those.My advice here is to get this book if you're relatively new to the subject of business management/entrepreneurship. Otherwise skim this book and pick out a reading list from the references. Most of the book seems to be superficial introductions to other peoples mental models/concepts. So for many this book will be a great starting point.For more seasoned readers around the subject, I would probably borrow this book rather than buy it.Its not to say that the book isn't worth the money (depending on how much you paid for it). There are some gems in there, but they're difficult to tease out. Maybe a second iteration/edition of this book would be what I would be looking for.

One of my go to books now.

Very good book and gives you a quick review of basic marketing principles managers tend to forget!