One of my former colleagues refused to use swear words. But he liberally labelled things as “poopy” if they didn’t make sense, were poorly thought-out, or just didn’t measure up. We recently reviewed a client’s value proposition for their strategic partners that was – well, yes – poopy. 
The value proposition sounded pretty good, actually. It clearly stated to potential partners the benefits of working with their company. And it set out why those benefits outweighed the risks and costs.
But it was a nice house with a rickety foundation. They hadn’t investigated what their target partners valued. They thought the partners wanted their high-quality products, but weren’t sure how much they prized this. They didn’t know if those partners placed more value on ease of working together. They didn’t know whether simple and clear governance policies, effective training and onboarding, or responsiveness to partner support needs was most valuable.
And they hadn’t done any research or data collection to support their claims. And so, their partner value proposition was too generic, and therefore fairly ineffective.
Which value statement is more meaningful? A claim was that your partner support is the best in the industry? Or one that says you have a 98% delivery accuracy and a guaranteed 8-hour issue response time? One that says your policies and procedures are simpler than the competition? Or one that says that 92% of your distributors agree that you are the easiest supplier they work with?
It’s all very well to list product or program features and benefits, or even to come up with statements that show your company is unique. But today’s customers – including your strategic partners — want to look deeper. They want to see your data, your proof.
You could spend a lot of money on a market research study, but there are often ways to find or generate proof creatively. You might survey your partners (which can have the added benefit of identifying issues that will make them happier and generate more sales for you). You could interview or survey some of your partners’ customers, or your competitor’s customers. Maybe create some case studies and look for common themes, or solicit some partner testimonials. You may have the data in your own systems, but need to dig a bit or be creative in pulling some of it together.
However you do it, articulate some proof that your partners find persuasive. Give them a reason to want to learn more about working with you.
We won’t kid you. An effective value proposition of any kind – whether for customers or strategic partners – requires effort if you do it right. But it’s worth doing. A poopy value proposition, on the other hand, is not.
Learn more about creating effective partner value propositions in our upcoming webinar,
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