Creating a Personal Value Proposition

By Meme Drumwright

 No one in business would argue with the importance of marketing a product, service or company. But often the very people who market products and services fail to advocate for themselves or their ideas. The concepts and frameworks used to market products can be helpful in championing you, your ideas and your capabilities to your “customers.” In this context, your customers are the people and organizations that matter to you, and “marketing you” is all about creating and delivering value to your customers.
 
At the heart of all marketing is a value proposition. To create a value proposition, you must understand what you provide that your customers really want—and that your competitors do not provide. Using marketing concepts like the “5 C’s” can be helpful as you fashion your personal value proposition.
 
CUSTOMERS: What do your customers value?
A classic marketing blunder is to assume you already know what your customer wants. To really understand your customers, you must listen to them. Resist the temptation to tell them what you know, and instead take every opportunity to ask them open-ended questions. Probe, seek advice and ask follow-up questions. Listen to what they say they need, but also try to discern the needs they do not overtly articulate. Try to discover their “hot buttons,” issues that are critically important to them.
 
Be resourceful when creating opportunities to communicate with your customers. Perhaps you can arrange informational interviews. Maybe you can talk with fellow McCombs alumni who work for your customer or have a similar job as your customer. You might also read speeches or Web sites your customer has created.
You can learn much more about your customers than you might realize initially.
 
COMPANY: What special competence do you possess to meet customers’ needs?
Once you’ve identified your customer, determine your differential advantage or distinctive competence. A common mistake is to confuse your points of parity (characteristics you need to be in the consideration set) with your points of difference (characteristics that truly make you unique). Can you say what makes you unique in 10 words or less? Remember that people who can provide scarce resources have the most power. What does your customer need that is a scarce resource? Can you provide that resource? If not, can you develop it?
 
Even if you have a differential advantage, your customer may not recognize it. Like a brand, you have a reputation, and your customer associates certain images and meanings with you. Do you know how your customer perceives your brand? Is there a gap between your perception of your brand and your customer’s perception? If so, you will need to reposition your brand in your customer’s mind. An effective personal brand must engage both the mind and the heart of your customer. It must 1) reflect your mission and values, 2) differentiate you from others and 3) comprise a promise to your key customers. Can you articulate these three aspects? If you can’t, how can you expect your customer to know your brand message?
 
COMPETITORS: Who competes with you in meeting customers’ needs?
You cannot fully understand your value proposition until you know what your competitors offer your customers. It’s easy for marketers to define their competition too narrowly and focus only on direct competitors—others who do exactly what you do. Effective marketers must understand all forms of competition—direct and indirect. Indirect competition includes any other way that customers can fill their needs other than with your offering. Differentiate yourself relative to both direct and indirect competitors and be prepared to clearly articulate your unique qualifications and capabilities.
 
COLLABORATORS: Who should you enlist to help you?
Everyone knows the importance of networking. But have you considered that people you network and collaborate with can be another type of customer? Nothing motivates collaborators to work with you more than your providing value to them. Look for opportunities to befriend them. How can you help them achieve their goals? If you can help them, it will go a long way toward enlisting them to help you.
 
Ideally, you want to identify those people who influence your customer’s decision-making process and collaborate with them, whether they be peers or co-workers, professors or consultants, CEOs or administrative assistants. Need help finding collaborators? As a McCombs alumnus/a, you have a valuable opportunity to engage classmates and alumni using the alumni directory (https://acsprod.mccombs.utexas.edu/MOR/).
 
CONTEXT: What factors limit or enhance possibility?
Factors such as timing, external events, a certain type of organizational culture or the existence of powerful allies or detractors can positively or negatively affect what you’re trying to accomplish. Do you know what factors work for or against you? Do you understand the related trends? Can you find more fertile ground? Is there something you can do to create an environment for success?
 
Developing a personal value proposition is an important part of realizing your own potential. The world is full of cobblers who neglect their own shoes. Don’t fail to use the powerful ideas of marketing to your own advantage._
 Meme Drumwright is an associate professor of advertising in The University of Texas at Austin’s College of Communication. She teaches a Texas Executive Education open enrollment course, “Advocacy: Championing Yourself and Your Ideas,” along with John Daly, professor of management and communications. For more information on this class, visit www.mccombs.utexas.edu/execed/open/