3) Discovering Your Procurement Potential

How many times have you heard these phrases before?

"Leverage the full-service capabilities of …"

"Improved Business Focus …"

"Personalized Solutions …"

"Faster Time to Market …Predictable Costs …Industry Leading Technology … Complete Accountability"

These are all typical value propositions used by companies. After a while, they blend together because everyone seems to be saying the same thing. Furthermore, too many companies err fundamentally in defining and communicating their value proposition. It’s not rocket science, but it is important to walk the line of dispensing important information without falling to cliché. Here are some tips on creating your value proposition with specific attention on the government market:

• Value is in the eye of the beholder! Each government agency and/or department has different needs and
  organizational challenges. Effective value propositions are customized to answer those specific needs.
• Value based solely on a product feature, functions, performance, and pricing is not sustainable. Everyday,
  competitors announce new capabilities you may win today, but tomorrow when your competition introduces better capabilities, you will lose.
• The greatest value often lies outside your product. For instance, the value may occur within intangibles such as relationships with members of the government agency, ease of buying a product or service, a sales person’s or company’s reputation, responsiveness of the organization, or flexibility of the company, just to name a few.
• Developing, communicating, and delivering value requires real understanding of what your target market seeks to accomplish, the roadblocks they face, and what is important to them.

When defining your value proposition, if you can clearly leverage the general mission statement and objectives of your target agency, you have gone a long way in developing a winning plan.