You’re great at what you do. Clients love you. But somehow, your growth has stalled.
You’re juggling delivery, sales, marketing, and maybe even hiring. Your site still reflects who you were two years ago. You’ve tried updating your messaging, but nothing sticks. You pour your heart and soul into your work, but it seems like there’s always a missing piece preventing consistent growth.
This isn’t about ambition. It’s about traction.
Why Your Value Proposition Isn’t Clicking
If your pipeline depends on word-of-mouth or hustle, your value proposition likely isn’t pulling its weight. When prospects can’t tell why you’re the right fit, they default to price, personality, or proximity.
Most founder-led firms fall into one of these traps:
What This Sounds Like in Real Life
“I hired a marketer but they couldn’t capture what makes us different.”
“Clients say yes when they talk to me, but my website doesn’t close any leads.”
“Everyone tells me we’re amazing, but I can’t explain why we’re better than competitors.”
Common failure modes:
- Generic claims like “great service” or “experienced team”
- Solution-first messaging that skips real customer pains
- Trying to be everything to everyone and standing for nothing
What a Strong Value Proposition Actually Does
A strong business value proposition answers one question: Why you, not the other guys?
A good value proposition will:
- Signals exactly who you’re for
- Shows the specific problem you solve
- Reflects what makes your offer different
- Connects your work to a meaningful outcome your client actually wants
If your message isn’t clear, your audience won’t listen. That’s why storytelling frameworks that distill your message into something easy to understand can help.
Read how we use StoryBrand to clarify brand messaging
Why Defining Your ICP Comes First
Before you can write a strong value proposition, you need to know exactly who you’re writing it for, aka, your ideal client profile (ICP).
If you’re a founder, you may think you know who your ideal client is. But does your team?
Can they answer:
- What motivates your best-fit buyers?
- What scares them or slows them down?
- Why you win deals—and why you lose them?
- What problems they’re actually trying to solve?
If your team can’t answer those questions, your ICP isn’t defined, and your value prop will fall flat.
“Don’t water down your message. Be specific with who you help, what they need, and how you solve their problems better than anyone else.” — Kerrie Luginbill, Chief Growth Officer at OTM
Generic value props are a symptom of vague ICPs. Be specific about the problems you solve, who you solve them for, and why your approach is the best fit for their world.
Grab the template we’ve used at OTM for laying out our ICPs.
A Simple Framework to Define Your Value Proposition
Here’s a plug-and-play structure we use:
Step 1: Start with the “Pain-Priority Matrix”
List out your customer’s top priorities and match them to what’s painful about the current options. Use real language. (Ask: What do they wish someone would finally fix?)
| Priority | Current Frustration |
| Faster execution | Agencies overpromise, underdeliver |
| Clear strategy | Everything feels reactive |
| Results that stick | Past fixes didn’t scale |
Learn how to define your strategy based on what your customer actually wants
Step 2: Fill in this sentence
We help [target audience] who are [facing this problem], by [your unique approach], so they can [desired outcome].
Example:
We help founder-led B2B firms who are stuck in the day-to-day, by building marketing systems that scale without the founder, so they can grow revenue without burning out.
Step 3: Stress-test it with real-world constraints
- Would a prospect nod and say “yep, that’s me”?
- Is it specific enough to disqualify bad-fit leads?
- Does it point to a transformation, not just a service?
See how OTM helps businesses scale with a growth engine that actually works
Three Common Angles to Differentiate Your Offer
If you’re stuck on what makes your value proposition unique, start with one of these angles:
- Process
Do you have a method, framework, or timeline that removes guesswork or risk? - Audience Focus
Are you deeply tuned into a niche (e.g. founder-led firms, ops-heavy teams, compliance-driven orgs)? - Outcome
Do you help clients achieve a specific result others only hint at? Think: cut sales cycle in half, double referrals, automate onboarding.
Here’s what happens when your sales and marketing aren’t aligned
You Can’t Afford to Be Vague
In markets full of generalists and lookalikes, clarity is your edge. Defining your unique value proposition isn’t a branding exercise. It’s a growth strategy.
Want help clarifying your value prop? Start with a free 30-minute consult or ask about our Path to Growth® Define phase: Customer Interviews, Persona Development, and Message House modules.