By Mateo Miramontes, Business Value
Consultant, Mainstay
The success of a solution is 100% based on
the value it brings to the consumer. In today’s subscription economy it is even
more important for solutions to drive immediate value because customers can easily
change solutions without huge switching costs or time requirements.
With such a focus on value, how can your company
organize and most effectively communicate the value of your solutions? The simple
answer is a value tree. A well-built value tree framework has a multitude of benefits,
including:
Simplicity: One of the most common challenges organizations face is that existing
marketing assets, meant to communicate value across multiple business functions,
are often disjointed or incomplete. A value tree provides a structured and
holistic representation of all functional areas and their associated value
drivers for a solution. This approach allows for everyone to understand the solution
value message being delivered and provides a simple reference tool for
communications going forward.
Organization: The simplicity of a value tree allows for value drivers to be
grouped by business area. This structure is key when discovering the total value
of a solution. By grouping the value drivers into key business areas, the value
tree can be quickly dissected to clearly show and communicate the value of the
solution.
Measurable: With the key value drives clearly defined, stakeholders can now
focus on measuring the benefits that a solution delivers. This provides a
template for marketers to then research their customers to collect benchmarks
and results. The value tree can then be
modified to be unique to customer segments (e.g., industries, geographies, size
of an organization)
Leverage: A simple and well-organized value tree also allows marketers to
develop assets to prove a solution’s impact. Creating the right asset for the
target audience and channel (e.g., Solution whitepapers, customer case studies,
videographics, infographics, and social media posts) stakeholders can build awareness
of the impact that a solution has delivered.
The true benefit of a value tree framework is
its simple illustration of the value of a solution. An effective value tree is
a living instrument that is constantly updated to reflect new value drivers and
proof points of customer impact. As data
is collected to fill the value tree, marketers can reuse the information to cut
and slice a portfolio of marketing assets that drive future sales.
Learn More
Mainstay is a leader in developing effective value trees and using
them to communicate and validate IT solutions. Contact us at
contact@mainstaycompany.com to have a discussion about our process and the
benefits a value tree can have on your organization.
