We help leadership teams accelerate
growth using Value Proposition thinking
– aligning strategy across functions and
improving sales performance.

What we do

“Strategy is based on a differentiated customer value proposition. Clarity of this value proposition is the single most important dimension of strategy.”

Strategy Maps, Robert S. Kaplan and David P. Norton, HBR Press

“Fewer than 5% of companies have financially quantified Value Propositions.”

Professor Malcolm McDonald; MMC

diagram Created with Sketch. Value Proposition
The 5 value territories
01Efficiency & Effectiveness

Being clear on who is going to buy your product and why is the most important question in business. Most businesses are just not clear on why a customer should buy from them versus their competitors.

Our efficient survey tools and guided 4-stage process enables leadership teams to crystallise their value drivers to focus business activity and step-change sales performance.

Problems we solve

Value proposition thinking

Who we are

We formed The Value Factory in 2019 based on our conviction that establishing clarity around a Value Proposition was the single biggest initiative that leaders can do in order to achieve business alignment and win with customers. Since then, we have created an efficient template-driven, workshop-based approach to guide senior teams on using Value Propositions to create growth.

Paul Linthwaite
Paul LinthwaiteHere is a title
Paul has held commercial Director roles with Diageo, Britvic and the BBC. Since 2011 he has advised across many B2B and B2C sectors on value growth initiatives.
Paul is also a teaching fellow at Aston University. [more-button] Lecturing on Mastering Strategy and Strategic Customer Engagement.
Paul is resisting the inevitable by “still playing a bit of cricket”.
Christian Bjerrum
Christian Bjerrum
Christian grew up in advertising and marketing and has been fortunate to work for some remarkable brands at great agencies in London, Amsterdam and Copenhagen. In recent years, he has focused on strategy execution and strategy communication and helped companies create growth across Europe, Middle East and Africa.[more-button]

He believes in inspiring people to live their company’s purpose and strategy…
When not crafting strategies or value propositions, you might find Christian carving up mountainsides on skis or navigating the depths with scuba gear with the ocean’s most enigmatic creatures.

Jim Coates
Jim Coates
Jim is an experienced senior Marketing & Commercial Director who has worked in both grocery retail and consumer brands. He is a Harvard Business School Alumni and always finds new solutions to organisational problems.[more-button] Whenever he can, he also loves to travel with his fly-fishing rod, exploring the world looking for the next great fishing spot. This summer’s big adventure was Iceland. Jim is the salmon correspondent for Trout & Salmon magazine.
Ian Minichiello
Ian Minichiello
Ian possesses extensive commercial knowledge acquired from more than 20 years of experience working with prestigious consumer goods companies. As a former Sales Director for Diageo, Pernod Ricard, Britvic, and Accolade Wines, he successfully led teams and effectively managed customers.[more-button]

His true passion lies in assisting individuals in enhancing their capabilities and raising the standards of skills within organisations. Ian has a proven track record of driving impactful change in business and enjoys long-standing relationships with valued clients who trust his expertise in customer management.
In his free time, Ian strives to improve his skills in golf, tennis, skiing, and cycling.

Case studies

Hair Care

Growth | Customer Centricity

Background

The northern european BU of a global branded haircare business. Hair salons are a significant market both in terms of colouring and care products but also as branded presence in “showcase” outlets where there is significant competition. This business had become “stuck” and perceived as undynamic in its brands and approach.

We segmented the customer market-based on types of customer and outlook of stylists. For some, the key value driver is making money and for others it is the professional esteem and recognition that counts.

Existing training school resources were re-packaged to deliver on the needs of esteem and targeted based upon new outlet segmenting. The sales team were refocused based upon fit & skill level and equipped with a suite of business development tools to demonstrate how entrepreneurial operators could increase sales and margins. New targets and systems are being rolled out to support this new way of working.

This business has now started to grow share of this market where it had endured long-term decline previously. The VP-led approach has been a catalyst for rejuvenation in people and activities across the whole of the business which continues.

Building Supplies

Efficiency | Customer Centricity

This well-known roofing solutions provider was encountering a high failure rate in commercial tenders as its high quality (and high-cost base) branded solutions lost out in procurement to cheaper suppliers

We used our process with senior commercial leaders to agree differentiated VPs for their 3 main buyer types. The VPs centred on the insight that faster installation times meant that projects could be made watertight quickly and risks of project delays significantly reduced. The trick was to align everyone on this being THE thing rather than one of many and to crystallise the case studies and proofs that would evidence this to customers.

Marketing took the lead in producing high quality – and evidenced – sales collateral. Sales teams were trained in a value-selling methodology and operational teams were tasked on how to steadily increase ease and speed of installation so that everyone was communicating the same differentiated position to customers.

Greater clarity of focus resulted in quicker sales cycles as customers began to understand the benefits (and this was communicated in all communications). and pipeline conversion rate improved from 5 to 4 with discounting reduced by 5%.

How strong is your Value Proposition?

Take this 5 minute test to get to see how good you are at Value proposition thinking.

“We had reached that stage where we needed to be clear on what we stood for and why that mattered to our customers. Working with TVF enabled us to both confirm and unlock elements of our value proposition which enabled us to build solutions true to that proposition and provide strong points of evidence.”
Neil Evans, Managing Director, UK
“TVF had a big impact on our business and commercial culture across multiple markets. Co-creating the Value Propositions for our most important customer segments has been an inclusive and motivating task, and even more importantly their roll-out support has been critical in delivering new strategic initiatives.”
Anders Andreassen, General Manager, Nordics
“Working with TVF has been enjoyable and rewarding. They spent time with our customers, sales teams & marketeers, using a comprehensive process to develop a comprehensive value proposition for our Dakea brand. They didn’t stop at development – they have been instrumental in the execution & communication of our VP with customers.”
Piotr Czernic, International Marketing Director, Poland

Insights

Why you need Value Proposition thinking.

Why don’t businesses have Value Propositions?

We have found many reasons why businesses fail to develop and clearly articulate Value Propositions, and elsewhere, we have identified why these are essential to business growth.  But what are the top 5 barriers we see?
Read more

The missing key to unlock sales conversations

For the first few years doing sales training, we always hit the same problem. We’d do all the important stuff around powerful questioning & listening, identifying needs, creating an emotional connection etc and then say “now explain your Value Proposition” to be met with puzzlement or more often 10 different answers.
Read more

Are you making the most of your value offer?

For too many businesses, a value proposition statement is just a line developed by someone that might be inserted in a pitch or a website. What a waste! Value Propositions, properly created and implemented across the organisation have a transformative power to drive growth. Why?
Read more

We have a new website…and a reason to celebrate!

Our story began 12 years ago when Ian and Paul set up KAMBridge to focus on helping clients develop commercial skills. At the same time, in Copenhagen, Christian began helping clients implement their strategies in powerful and collaborative ways. At a chance meeting 4 years ago, both parties discovered a shared belief in the remarkable power of Value Proposition thinking to make business better and The Value Factory was formed.
Read more

Church End House,
Church End,
Albury, Ware,
Hertfordshire,
SG11 2JG, UK
+44 7921 113339

Denmark

Nordre Toldbod 27,
1259 Copenhagen,
Denmark
 +45 40 170738

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