Value Proposition or Vision Statement?

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Value Proposition or Vision Statement?

Category:Infosec Communicator,Leadchange,STC,STC Rochester,Summit,Uncategorized Tags : 

Our STC Rochester Council is working with Neil Hair‘s Marketing Concepts class at the Rochester Institute of Technology to develop a marketing strategy as we seek to redefine our value proposition as an STC chapter. Some members of the council had a status meeting with the Marketing Concepts class team earlier this week. The team is analyzing similar organizations in our area (ASTD, ISPI, IEEE, etc.) to determine how we compare on key activities and services.

The Marketing Concepts team’s initial slide was:

Value proposition

STC is the best network for excellence in technical communications

In our discussion at council and in following correspondence, we’ve had an extended discussion of what constitutes a Value Proposition. Although there’s been some confusion, including “what is networking,” I think we’ve decided that this is more of a Vision Statement than a Value Proposition.

Value propositions can be expressed in different ways. One way of looking at them is

Value = BenefitsCost

When STC raised its dues for 2010 to $240 per year for International +  Chapter membership, membership renewals plummeted.  For many of the members, the perceived Benefits were outweighed by the Cost.

According to Rackham (stolen from wikipedia), a Value Proposition should include the following:

  • Capability – what it is you do and how you do it
  • Impact – what benefits or difference your capability will make
  • Proof – what evidence substantiates your impact
  • Cost – the cost (or risk) of your capability and impact

If our Value Proposition includes these elements, it’s obviously a bit more complicated. We would have different value propositions for members, employers in our community, etc.

What about Personas?

Usability practitioners use Personas to help programmers visualize the different users of the software they’re creating.  A Persona is a fictional person whose “attributes” are based on different types of users and the business processes for which they might use the software. (This is obviously highly simplified.)

Could we use the concept of a Persona to help develop and articulate value propositions? Would it make sense to start with testimonials of specific members? Can I articulate the Value Proposition of STC Rochester for myself?

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4 Comments

Writing the Next Chapter « Infosec Communicator

August 31, 2010at 1:07 am

[…] Value Proposition or Vision Statement? (benwoelk.wordpress.com) […]

Why I Value STC Rochester « Infosec Communicator

August 17, 2010at 12:01 pm

[…] Value Proposition or Vision Statement? (benwoelk.wordpress.com) […]

KnowledgeBishop

August 13, 2010at 3:29 pm

Thanks for including me, Ben. It’s a tricky time for membership-based services in many industries. So many businesses (news, entertainment, networking) are watching free online services cut deeper into their revenue streams as each year passes.

As FaceBook, LinkedIn and Twitter usage grows, so much of the networking that used to occur at professional conferences is now happening daily, for free. That said, there is a powerful opportunity for close connection through face to face interactions that online will never fully replace. So, in my mind, the value proposition for any local society chapter would include that intangible, but obvious, benefit of in-person conversation with like-minded peers.

I don’t know how you quantify that financially, but it is priceless.

    benwoelk

    August 13, 2010at 3:34 pm

    Thanks Tristan.

    I’m publishing my personal STC Rochester value proposition in my next blog entry. Face to face is really important.

    Ben

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