10 Characteristics of Great Value Propositions

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The ABC’s of creating a Value Proposition Canvas

3 min readNov 16, 2017

Value Propositions are a simple and visually clear way to understand your customers needs, which will lead you to designing products and services they want. It allows you to match your products and services to realistic market needs. If you’re just getting started with your value proposition, here are some characteristics to aim for.

1. The Business Model

The first and most essential characteristic of a successful value proposal is that it’s built on a foundation of a great business model.

2. Focus

A solid value proposition puts emphasis on just a handful of pain relievers and gain creators, but develops them thoroughly.

3. Targeting

A great value proposition will zoom in on jobs, pains, or gains that a large number of customers have or for which a small number is willing to pay a lot of money.

4. Alignment

Another way to gauge whether your value proposition measures against your competitors’ is how accurately it aligns with how your customers measure success.

5. Prioritizing

A great value proposition also stands out because of its focus on the most significant jobs, most severe pains, and most relevant gains of your customers.

6. Uniqueness

A very important point to address while drafting your value proposition is that it needs to differentiate from your competition in a meaningful way.

7. Convergence

In order to serve its purpose, your value proposition also needs to specifically address functional, emotional and social jobs all together.

8. Performance

A great value proposition also means that it is capable of outperforming competition substantially on at least one dimension.

9. Distinctiveness

In addition to surpassing and otherwise differentiating from your competitors, your value proposition should have elements that make it difficult to copy.