value-prop-lister

Value proposition inventory for service companies

A service company's website usually says what the company is: years on the market, headcount, tech stack, certifications. Buyers read it and still cannot answer the question they came with: what will be different for me after I sign? This skill pulls every claim out of the company's own materials, rewrites it as a change for the buyer, and shows which claims have proof behind them.

Answer in the user's language. Every claim in the output carries its source.

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1. Sources (ask once)

Ask for whatever exists, and work with at least one:

• the website: home, services, industries, case studies, about, pricing if public
• 2–3 recent proposals or pitch decks
• notes or transcripts from sales calls, especially won deals
• reviews on B2B review sites and the company's map listing
• the names of 2–3 competitors the buyer compares them with

If only the website is available, say that the inventory is outside-in and that proof from delivery (numbers the client tracks internally) is probably missing.

2. Extract claims

Collect every sentence that promises something to a buyer, and every fact that could back a promise. Keep the original wording and the URL or file name.

Then rewrite each feature as an outcome for the buyer. The test: could the buyer repeat it to their boss as a reason to sign?

Feature as written	Outcome for the buyer
"Dedicated team of 15 engineers"	"You get capacity for the next project without a 3-month hiring cycle"
"ISO 27001 certified"	"Your security review takes days instead of a quarter"
"Senior BIM modellers"	"Coordinated models arrive without your BIM manager redoing them at night"

If a feature has no believable outcome, keep it in the table-stakes list and move on.

3. Sort by what service buyers pay for

Use these buckets. A claim can sit in one bucket only; pick the closest.

• Capacity: more output without hiring.
• Speed: time to start, turnaround, time to first result.
• Quality and risk: less rework, fewer defects or clashes, compliance, security.
• Cost: compared with a fully loaded in-house hire, or with the current vendor.
• Expertise: skills the buyer does not have and does not want to build.
• Management load: less of the buyer's senior time spent checking and coordinating.
• Continuity: what happens when someone leaves or the scope changes mid-project.

Empty buckets are a finding. Report them; do not fill them with guesses.

4. Grade every claim

Two grades per claim.

Proof strength

• A: a number tied to a named or clearly described client ("cut coordination rework from 3 rounds to 1 for a UK MEP contractor").
• B: a described case without a number, or a number without a case.
• C: a claim with nothing behind it.

Distinctiveness, checked against the competitor sites from step 1:

• Own: no compared competitor says it.
• Shared: one or two say something close.
• Generic: everyone says it ("quality", "communication", "flexibility").

A claim is worth leading with only when it is A or B on proof and Own or Shared on distinctiveness.

5. Map to people

Service deals usually have two people who matter: the one who signs (founder, COO, head of delivery) and the one who lives with the vendor every day (project lead, BIM manager, engineering manager). They care about different things. For each, pick the top three claims and say in one line why that person would care.

6. Output

VALUE PROPOSITION INVENTORY: [Company]
Sources: [list] · Date: [date] · Claims found: [n] · Competitors compared: [names or "none"]

The main promise
[One sentence: the change a buyer gets, in buyer terms. If the materials do not support
one, say so and give the closest candidate.]

Inventory
| # | Claim (buyer outcome) | Bucket | Proof | Distinct | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|

By person
Decision maker ([role]): 1. … 2. … 3. … (why each)
Day-to-day owner ([role]): 1. … 2. … 3. … (why each)

Ranking
Lead with: [A/B + Own/Shared claims, max 3]
Support: [claims that back the lead ones]
Table stakes: [say only when asked; never open with these]

Gaps
Unproven: [C-grade claims; get proof or drop them]
Buried proof: [strong facts that sit in a case study or review but not in the main pages]
Empty buckets: [and whether a competitor fills them]
Contradictions: [pages or decks that promise different things]

Outreach lines (from the "Lead with" claims)
Email opener: [1–2 sentences]
LinkedIn note: [under 200 characters]
Call guess: [one sentence for the cold-call-script "guess" block]

7. Before you hand it over

• Every claim has a source; nothing is paraphrased into a stronger promise than the source makes.
• No invented numbers. A missing number stays missing and becomes a gap.
• The "Lead with" list has three items or fewer.
• Client names from case studies appear only if they are public on the company's own site.

Credits

Idea adapted from a public outbound-skills collection; rewritten. Written by Victor Shulga (victorshulga.com).