What this worksheet is for
Customers do not buy features; they buy what the features do for them. A value proposition says, in one or two sentences, who a product is for, what problem it solves and why it is better than what the customer does today. In this worksheet you practise building one, step by step, for fictional companies. All companies, products and figures are invented for teaching.
Time: about 45 minutes. Work alone or in pairs. Tasks 1 and 3 can be done on screen; everything else works on paper.
Key terms
Term | Meaning | Example (Proseware, a bookkeeping service) |
|---|---|---|
Feature | What a product is or has | Receipts can be sent as phone photos |
Benefit | What it does for the customer | Nobody has to type in receipts by hand |
Outcome | The result in the customer's business | The monthly books are ready days earlier, so the owner sees the numbers in time to act |
Alternative | What the customer does today, or would do without you | Doing the books in the evenings, or hiring a part-time bookkeeper |
Value proposition | Who it is for, the need, the benefit, and why it beats the alternative | See the template below |
Climbing the ladder with "so what?"
Start with a feature and ask "so what?" until you reach something the customer's boss would care about.
Step | Proseware |
|---|---|
Feature | Receipts can be sent as phone photos. |
So what? | Nobody has to type in receipts by hand. (benefit) |
So what? | The monthly books are ready days earlier. (outcome) |
So what? | The owner sees the numbers while there is still time to act on them. (outcome) |
Stop when the next "so what?" would only produce a general phrase like "more success".
The template
For [who] who [need], [product] is a [category] that [benefit], unlike [alternative].
Who: a specific group of customers, not "everyone".
Need: the problem or wish they have, in their words.
Product: the name of what you sell.
Category: what kind of thing it is, so the reader can place it (a bookkeeping service, a shift-planning app).
Benefit: the most important benefit or outcome. One, not five.
Alternative: what they do today. Often this is not a competitor but a spreadsheet, a part-time job or doing nothing.
Example: For small food and drink producers who are buried in shop receipts, Proseware is a bookkeeping service that turns phone photos of receipts into finished monthly books, unlike doing the books in the evenings or hiring a part-time bookkeeper.
This sentence is a thinking tool. You never paste it into an email word for word (task 7 shows what to do instead).
Task 1: feature, benefit or outcome?
Sort the statements. On paper, write F, B or O next to each one.
Feature, benefit or outcome?
Feature
Benefit
Outcome
Solution to task 1
The interactive block checks your answers. On paper:
Feature: the van carries 200 spare parts; the machine grinds fresh beans; the form has a cost centre field; the app sends a reminder.
Benefit: most repairs on the first visit; fresh coffee without leaving the building; finance sees the department at once; nobody forgets a changed shift.
Outcome: every order ships on time in the Christmas rush; less working time lost to coffee runs; travel costs approved in one day; no uncovered shifts in a month.
A quick test: a feature is still true if nobody uses the product. A benefit happens to the user. An outcome shows up in the business's results.
Task 2: climb the ladder
Fill in a benefit and an outcome for each feature.
Company and feature | Benefit | Outcome |
|---|---|---|
Litware, a shift-planning app: open shifts appear on all care workers' phones at once | ||
Northwind Traders, an office supplies wholesaler: orders placed by 16:00 arrive the next working day | ||
Contoso, an IT service: new staff laptops are set up before the first working day | ||
Fabrikam, a forklift service: inspections take place at night, outside working hours |
Solution to task 2
Other answers are fine if the benefit is what the customer gets and the outcome is a result in their business.
Company and feature | Benefit | Outcome |
|---|---|---|
Litware: open shifts appear on all phones at once | The manager no longer phones round to fill a shift | Shifts are covered faster and fewer clients miss a visit |
Northwind Traders: next-day delivery | The office never runs out of paper or toner for long | Less money tied up in a big stock cupboard |
Contoso: laptops ready before day one | New staff can work from the first morning | New staff are productive sooner and the office team is not distracted |
Fabrikam: inspections at night | Forklifts are never out of action during shifts | No lost working hours for inspections |
Task 3: name the parts of the template
Here is a value proposition for Fourth Coffee, an office coffee service:
For small offices whose staff leave the building for coffee, Fourth Coffee is an office coffee service that brings café-quality coffee into the office kitchen, unlike the vending machine in the hallway.
Which part of the template is each phrase? Use: who, need, product, category, benefit, alternative.
Parts of the Fourth Coffee statement
"small offices" is the part.
"whose staff leave the building for coffee" is the part.
"Fourth Coffee" is the part.
"an office coffee service" is the part.
"brings café-quality coffee into the office kitchen" is the part.
"the vending machine in the hallway" is the part.
Solution to task 3
who: small offices / need: whose staff leave the building for coffee / product: Fourth Coffee / category: an office coffee service / benefit: brings café-quality coffee into the office kitchen / alternative: the vending machine in the hallway.
Task 4: write a value proposition
Use the template and this fact sheet.
Litware fact sheet | Details |
|---|---|
Product | Litware, a shift-planning app for home care providers |
Main features | Open shifts appear on all care workers' phones; the first person to accept gets the shift; managers see who is working where |
Customers | Home care providers with 20 to 200 care workers |
Their problem | When someone calls in sick, a manager phones round for an hour to find cover |
What they use today | A paper rota on the office wall and a weekly spreadsheet sent by email |
Write your value proposition here:
For ________ who ________, ________ is a ________ that ________, unlike ________.
Solution to task 4
A model answer: For home care providers whose managers spend an hour phoning round when someone calls in sick, Litware is a shift-planning app that sends open shifts to every care worker's phone and gives the shift to the first one who accepts, unlike a paper rota and a weekly spreadsheet.
Check yours: Is "who" specific? Is the need a real problem in the customer's words? Is there one benefit, not a list? Is the alternative what they really use today?
Task 5: cut the empty words
These sentences sound impressive but say almost nothing. For each one, say what is missing (who, need, benefit or proof) and rewrite it with the facts from tasks 2 and 4.
"We are a leading provider of innovative, best-in-class workforce solutions."
"Fabrikam offers world-class service with a customer-first mindset."
"Northwind Traders is your one-stop shop for all your needs."
"Contoso empowers businesses to unlock their full potential through technology."
"Fourth Coffee takes your coffee experience to the next level."
Solution to task 5
All five are missing a specific who, a real need and a checkable benefit. Words such as "leading", "innovative", "best-in-class", "world-class", "one-stop shop", "empower" and "next level" could describe any company. Possible rewrites:
Litware sends open shifts to every care worker's phone, so managers stop phoning round when someone calls in sick.
Fabrikam inspects forklifts at night, so they are never out of action during your shifts.
Northwind Traders delivers office supplies the next working day if you order by 16:00.
Contoso sets up laptops before new staff arrive, so they can work from the first morning.
Fourth Coffee puts a bean-to-cup machine in your office kitchen, so nobody has to walk to the café.
Task 6: name the real alternative
What does the customer do today, or what would they do if they bought nothing? Write one alternative for each.
A small winery deciding whether to use Proseware for bookkeeping.
A care provider deciding whether to buy Litware.
A toy wholesaler deciding whether to sign a Fabrikam service contract.
A research lab deciding whether to rent coffee machines from Fourth Coffee.
Solution to task 6
The owner or office manager does the books in the evenings, or the winery hires a part-time bookkeeper.
A paper rota on the wall, a spreadsheet and phone calls.
Repairing forklifts only when they break down, calling whichever technician is free.
Staff walk to the café, or the old vending machine stays.
The alternative is often "doing nothing" or "doing it by hand". That matters: you do not need to be better than a competitor, only better than the way the customer works today.
Task 7: from template to email
Turn your value proposition from task 4 into two sentences for a first email from Litware to Daniel Okafor, operations manager at Lamna Healthcare, a fictional home care provider that has just opened two new offices. Do not use the template wording ("For... who..., ... is a..."). Write about Lamna, not about Litware.
Solution to task 7
A model answer:
With two new offices, finding cover when someone calls in sick probably means even more phoning round. Litware sends the open shift to every care worker's phone at once, and the first one to accept gets it.
The template wording is gone. The first sentence is about Lamna's situation, the second gives one benefit. What is still missing for a full email: a greeting, proof, one question and a signature (see the anatomy of a B2B cold email).
Task 8: the "so what?" test in pairs
Swap your task 4 statement with a partner. Read it aloud, and after each part ask "so what?". Mark every word your partner cannot explain or prove. Then rewrite your own statement once more.
Notes on task 8
A good value proposition survives "so what?" for every part: the reader can say who it is for, why that group cares, and what changes for them. Words that do not survive are usually adjectives ("innovative", "seamless") and lists of features. If your partner asks "how do you know?", you need proof, such as a number from a real customer, before you use the claim in an email.
For teachers
Running it in 45 minutes: key terms and the ladder together (10 minutes), tasks 1 to 4 in pairs (20 minutes), tasks 5 to 7 (10 minutes), task 8 as homework or in the next lesson (5 minutes to set up).
Easier: do task 2 with only two rows and give the benefits; learners add the outcome. Skip task 6.
Harder: write value propositions for two different customer groups of the same product (for Litware: care providers and hospitals) and explain what changes.
Common mistakes: listing three benefits in one statement; an alternative that is a competitor's name instead of what the customer really does; a "who" that is everyone ("businesses").
Next step: use the value proposition in a real email with the cold email writing trainer, or build the customer profile behind the "who" with the ICP and persona canvas.