Interview

In the end, the only thing that matters is… How do we serve our consumers? And, what do we leave behind? _Miguel Serrano

If you want to be on the top of the game as a brand and leave a legacy behind, the secret is in your CVP. Customer satisfaction is not measured in smiley emojis nor is it a vague statement. It is a real value your product provides to people and solves a problem your competitors can’t.

In our last post, we’ve discussed two essential pillars of creating an offer that will appeal to your consumers, will connect with them on a functional and emotional level, and will eventually be the key to more closed sales deals.

As promised, here is the number one strategy you can follow to craft a great value proposition.

Market Research

Before you put your hands on the steps of this strategy, you need to make sure you’ve got a fair understanding of your market. You know who your competitors are, their advantages and claims, the prices, etc. You can even go beyond that and run a competitor portfolio analysis where you do extended research on your competitor(s) to assess the level of competition over each advantage in your industry.

In case you have already worked that out, then you’re all set to explore the hands-on strategy–by Miguel Serrano, that will help you come up with the best value proposition for your brand.

The Steps:

• Put a Cross-functional team together
• Select and prioritize customer needs
• Quantify and rank by priority
• Build a clear hierarchy
• Execute consistently

#1 Team Work

This is teamwork. Bring together all the members of your team from across the entire value chain: technical, sales, marketing, quality, chefs, manufacturing, logistics; everyone who can contribute to the discussion.

#2 Customer Needs

Brainstorm all the customer purchase decisions in your industry. For elaboration’s sake, let’s say we’re addressing a vegan company. What makes people buy vegan food? Mainly for health care reasons, but there are other reasons you can consider like the taste, ethics, cost, convenience, animal welfare, etc.

Then, study which of these reasons is biggest in percentage. Based on that, you will choose the customer needs your product addresses. From all the value propositions you landed on, choose 5 key need groups.

#3 Quantify and Rank

Rank the value propositions by priority: decide which one of them is more important to you as a brand and which comes last. Let’s use the same example of a vegan company. The 5 possible value propositions can be ranked as follows:

01.Taste – 02.Environment – 03.Health – 04.Convenience – 05.Cost

“Who quantifies has the authority.”__Miguel Serrano

At this stage, there is a very important point you need to consider: quantification. Here you talk numbers.

To quantify means to translate the benefits of your product into measurable outcomes. Instead of telling that your product has a number of benefits, show what these are and draw a clear image of how it happens. Research each value proposition, especially the five you have chosen.

You can do that in many ways, including:

• Ingredients: check the quality of your ingredients and how your consumers perceive their benefit.
• Quality Control: elaborate on how your product responds to quality maintenance 
• Taste Tests: give your product to people to test and you can report how well they respond to it. (chefs as in the example)
• Scoring/ Likings With Stars: creatively track people’s reactions to your product/service through digital indicators.
• Reduction of Prep-Time: explore how can your product offer convenience.
• Average Pricing in The Market vs Your Pricing: by percentage, how much does your product save in budget compared to others in the market.
• Recycling and CO2 Reduction in %.

This will help you sell your value propositions more efficiently. But remember, it is one piece of the wholesome puzzle we’re trying to build.

#4 Build a Hierarchy

Take each of the value propositions and break it down in terms of the supporting benefits. Again this is a vegan company with a new product in the market: a Veggie Burger. The top value proposition for this company is 01.taste (the sensual experience). Let’s carve out five supporting benefits:

1. Flavor: the super umami taste flavor lingers two times longer;
2. Meat: it is identical to meat in protein supply;
3. Spices: 10% of the most popular burgers in the US don’t have spices;
4. Chunk: the chunks of vegies are two times bigger than those in ordinary burgers;
5. Juice: it contains 5g/100g of beetroot liquids, which makes it the juiciest veggie burger in the market.

Once you come up with all the supporting details, summarize them all in one sentence:

• Summary: Possibly the juiciest burger ever: the increased flavor intensity convinced 70% of the chefs who tasted it.

Do the same with each of the needs you’ve listed: 02.Environment – 03.Health – 04.Convenience – 05.Cost. 

Now come up with a summary that puts the whole value propositions together. This will be the top value proposition that will occur everywhere you communicate:

• The summary of all the summaries: Possibly the juiciest vegan burger made high-quality fermented pea protein. 5***** taste and 30% high protein quality.

Now that you’ve settled on a top value proposition and the supporting value propositions underneath it, you are ready to pitch your offer.

#5 Effective Execution

Wherever you communicate (pitch) your offer, the top value proposition will be the first thing that appears, and underneath, you select the supporting benefits (value propositions) depending on the context.

For effective execution of the value proposition, adapt the hierarchy of the underlying supporting arguments according to the target consumer.

Suppose your customer is an organic retail company: your top value proposition will stay the same but the underlying supporting value propositions will change in ranking. Remember that here it’s all about you’re customer’s need rather than what you value as important. You decide the custom ranking by looking at what’s relevant to your customer’s strategy.

This is how you create value propositions that resonate with the consumer, create real value, and that will take your business to the next level.

Tell us about yourself

Hum… Let’s begin (I have copied Fareed Zacharia from CNN, he starts every show with these 3 words, I find that this allows me to ease into any topic).  

You are starting with a tough question, I am the one who usually starts a training class with this question, OK then, I consider myself a “facilitator”, why? Well, the regulation is written, and my role is to assist others interpret and understand those words and especially open their eyes on how they can apply it to what they do as it is meant.

How would describe your professional career?

I feel very lucky as the last 30 years (still feeling young) have been full of challenges, learning experiences and the best part has been sharing knowledge and participate in training the new generation

Can you tell us about a time where you encountered a business challenge?

I have to say (with a smile) that I have encountered one specific challenge many times over.  I sometimes work with people who instead of learning to comply with food safety regulation they literally focus on challenging it and are not open to understand the results of years of research.  In these moments, it is nearly impossible to transfer knowledge and be a facilitator.  

Which supporting skills do you think are most important when it comes to leadership?

A leader must inspire, share a vision and be able to choose the people who will make a project happen.  A leader needs to be a very good listener and push others to find the best of themselves and bring it into any project. 

What steps do you take to make sure that projects are completed on time, on budget, and to the proper standard?

I spend a lot of time thinking about the project before even writing a word.  I also start planning/identifying the final result I want to achieve and I put together an executive summary of the whole project.  I always brainstorm on loose white paper and in pencil because I usually erase and re-write everything at least once. I do collage to put the ideas in order and only when it is clear in my mind, I am able to get into it and that is actually the easiest part.

What are you passionate about?

Ha ha so many things!  Professionally I am so happy when I feel I am able to transmit in a meaningful way information that the audience understands and will be able to use and teach others.  In other words, I am passionate about people and how knowledge and information can help develop so much growth. Personally, I love running as this is the moment where I do most of my thinking and problem solving and nobody interrupts me.

Where do you see yourself in five years?

In 5?  not retired for sure ha ha, I see myself still sharing the knowledge I have learned over the last 30 years whether it is in the regulatory and compliance food safety field or experiences dealing with so many different food products and different people.  The industry world is fascinating, I would like to spend more time in an academic setting.  One thing for sure I will still be taking classes to learn more and more.

How do you see the food industry?

I now prefer to talk about the Food World because there is so much for and even beyond the industry.  The Food World is expanding so fast and with the internet exponentially.  There are so many different topics relating to food, from food safety to food defense, sustainability to genetically modified, there is a topic for everyone.  In my field of food safety and quality, it is the first requirement to enter this world, no matter what the product is and over the last 10 to 20 years, voluntary improvements and investments to reach those goals have been phenomenal.  Today food is not only for the stomach, but it is also so much more and the food industry has adapted very well and has been very innovative.

The foodeshow in 2 words

Mind feeding!

Your advice to the foodeshow community

Learn about what you want to know but take the time afterwards to learn about everything the show brings you, especially that you still have weeks and weeks where you can see videos connect with people and open your horizons

Tell us about yourself

I develop tailor-made strategies for specific local markets with FMCG business owners and CEOs specifically in the plant-based food/dairy category.

How would describe your professional career?

30 years of learning, growing and connecting in various SMEs, startups and in global senior management positions at Nestlé. Awards, failures, being celebrated and being retrenched were integral part of it.

Can you tell us about a time where you encountered a business challenge?

We did not succeed to enter the most important plantbased market in Europe in the UK. Built a business plan, launched at Sainsbury’s in frozen first, then expansion to others were planned. Tesco were not interested as we hoped, we changed strategies in the portfolio, and focused on raw plantbased products. After shifting, finetuning and trial & error, we managed to have the opportunity finally for market entry test in 400 stores nationwide. It was a strong collaboration between a lot of people involved. We kept on fighting and did not give up.

Which supporting skills do you think are most important when it comes to leadership?

Love. The love for people and for the world makes a leader a force-for good for all stakeholders. The way you lead with inner love empowers others and make them grow as persons and as professionals. Business success is a mere logical consequence.

What steps do you take to make sure that projects are completed on time, on budget, and to the proper standard?

The very first thing for me is to deeply understand the goal and why I do this project and draw an inner picture of success. The rest is project management and connection to other people. Ask for feedback, and continuously improve.

What are you passionate about?

Am passionate about food and meditation. Food is cultural and make us use our senses. Different regions, countries or places have their own traditions and we learn a lot about one another. For me, connecting to others over food is one of the most fascinating things. The other side is connecting to my own self, listening to the inner voice and intuitive guidance and being in the present moment. It helps me to transform myself and improve as a human being.

Where do you see yourself in five years?

I advice CEOs and business owners in SMEs with tailor-made strategies for specific global markets in FMCG and combine professional business management expertise with a conscious mindset. I am a spiritual business leader.

How do you see the food industry? 

I see transparency and consciousness evolving strongly in mature food markets while in developing markets it will contribute to improve the malnutrition and feed more people. It will be more and more about better, more natural and plant-based ingredients. We are what we eat today, we become what we eat tomorrow.

The foodeshow in 2 words

Connecting people and deeping the conversations around food and business. A good platform.

Your advice to the foodeshow community 

Take a mentor that helps you become the best version of yourself. Someone that gives you a brutally honest perspective and helps you and your team evolve and succeed. Treat your employees and partners above their expectations. 

Watch live your purpose keynote by Miguel Serrano

Tell us about yourself

My name is Bonnie Susilo, and I’m a co-founder of Ultra, the 1st Indonesian Food Venture Builder

How would describe your professional career?

I see myself as an entrepreneur, and as an entrepreneur I choose to make an impact to these food SME, by improving their growth, building their capacity, constantly challenge them to exceed beyond their current stage.

Can you tell us about a time where you encountered a business challenge?

One of the challenges we find is when we have a situation when our partner have difficulty to adapt or even pivot their business. When they lose passion towards changes, sometime it brought downtime and take long time to recover.

Which supporting skills do you think are most important when it comes to leadership?

Empathy. The ability to put ourselves into their shoes, and to see from their view.

What steps do you take to make sure that projects are completed on time, on budget, and to the proper standard?

We have check list by dates, to monitored our progress and to anticipate if there are upcoming challenges.

What are you passionate about?

People. Their passion, their creative, their journey.

Where do you see yourself in five years?

I hope I can be one of the regulators, and bringing solution to improve the economy.

How do you see the food industry?

Shifting, but everlasting.

The foodeshow in 2 words

Inspiring and impactful.

Your advice to the foodeshow community

Real collaboration, from business to impact. Anywhere of the world.