Value Proposition · Differentiation · Component
The difference statement
What is true of your offer and not of the alternatives, stated so plainly that a rival could not use the same sentence.
The deliverable
What it is
The working test is substitution: put a competitor’s name in the sentence. If it still reads as true, the sentence describes the category rather than the offer.
A difference must also matter. Being genuinely different on something no customer weighs is a fact rather than a differentiator.
One level in
What it is made of
Each element is a constituent part of the component. Follow one to see the attributes it carries.
The statement
The difference itself, in one sentence, tied to a customer need.
3 attributes: Difference · Need addressed · Applies to segment
LearnThe substitution test
The check that a competitor could not credibly say the same thing.
3 attributes: Tested against · Result · Tested
LearnThe durability
How long the difference is likely to hold, and what protects it.
3 attributes: Expected hold · Protection · Confidence
Learn
Put a competitor’s name in the sentence. If it still reads true, you have described the category.
The other components in differentiation
The alternative set
What the customer would do instead — including doing nothing, which is the most common competitor and the least often listed.
LearnThe deliberate weaknesses
What the offer is consciously not good at, chosen so that it can be excellent elsewhere.
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