Do you have a competent answer to “What does your company do?”

Have you ever listened to someone trying to explain their business. They know what the company does, inside and out, and are passionate about it. You’re listening intently, understanding what they are talking about, then suddenly, you realise you have completely lost the thread.

Was it your lack of knowledge of the industry? Did you get confused due to information overload? Did they disappear down a technology ‘rabbit hole’. Maybe you may have been the person on the other side, too!

Describing what a business does in a way that customers, employees, partners, even your grandma understands is something we all do regularly. And for entrepreneurs effectively describing their ideas or business could be the difference between attracting or repelling investors.

One of the challenges to effective communication is that everyone has different knowledge and experience, and you could be talking to a lay audience or an academic expert. 

We know from judging many startup competitions, and talking to investors that one of their key issues is people pitching a concise and compelling message in their opening pitch.

A short statement that clearly articulates why a customer would want to know about your company and not the competition is your value proposition. It is the foundation of your brand and the core of your competitive advantage, conveyed across all your marketing activities and communications.

It may be ambitious to explain a complex technology or solution in a short statement. So, creating a headline, a descriptive paragraph, and a visual element of your value proposition can be beneficial.

When writing your value proposition, there are three key questions you need to answer: Who is your ideal customer? How will what you offer solve the need of your audience? And why are you different?

To establish an understanding of your ideal customer, consider what problem they are trying to solve, what are their pain points and what is driving their need(s)? Think about what their expectation is from doing business with you, what it is they are hoping to gain.

Next describe what your business offers to the customer. To identify the value of your products, solutions and services, think about how what you offer will generate the most gain and alleviate the customer’s pain points. Define exactly how your business will overcome the customer’s challenge.

Now you have created these two elements, the next step determines how the product fits the customer profile. For this mapping exercise ranking the benefits to the customer profile is key. The importance of the benefits can be identified by what differentiates you against your competitors, your USP.

And importantly, when writing your value proposition, use simple language, cut through the jargon and get to the core message. Use a tone that expresses your company’s brand and core values.

To find out whether your value proposition stands up, ask a handful of people – ranging from a colleague or business associate to a relative or friend – to tell what they think your company does.

If the listener says “Oh, tell me more/ how/ why”, you know you’ve nailed it. Let us know the results and if you need help to create your value proposition or in other areas of marketing and communications, talk to us today!