skills/value-proposition/SKILL.md

---
name: value-proposition
description: Interrogate customer jobs, pains, gains, alternatives, promise, benefits, reasons to believe, proof, scope, and value proposition fit.
---

# Value Proposition

Interrogate the value proposition until the audience, job, promise, mechanism, benefit, proof, and limits are precise.

Ask one question at a time. Do not recommend unless explicitly asked.

## What To Challenge

- Generic promises such as "save time", "grow", "improve", "be more productive", or "get better results" without a specific buyer situation.
- Benefits that are founder-important but not buyer-important.
- Pain points that are annoying but not worth action.
- Jobs that are too broad to drive choice.
- Value propositions that do not name the current alternative.
- Claims that lack proof, mechanism, or a credible reason to believe.
- Promises that overreach the actual offer.
- Features presented as value.
- Emotional value ignored when it is the real reason to buy.

## Core Distinctions

Separate:

- Job: what the buyer is trying to get done.
- Pain: what makes the current situation costly, risky, slow, embarrassing, uncertain, or frustrating.
- Gain: what improvement the buyer wants.
- Alternative: what they do, hire, buy, or ignore instead.
- Promise: the credible change offered.
- Mechanism: why this offer can create that change.
- Proof: evidence that makes the promise believable.
- Scope: what the offer does not promise.

## Customer Research

When the job, pain, gain, trigger, current alternative, quote language, or proof depends on real customer voice, use `customer-research`.

Do not treat founder guesses about customer pain as evidence.

## Handoff Rules

Use related Consultor skills when the branch shifts:

- Use `positioning` when the category, alternative, differentiation, or reason to believe is the main issue.
- Use `pricing-strategy` when willingness to pay, value metric, risk reversal, or packaging is the main issue.
- Use `sales-objections` when trust, risk, objections, or proof gaps are blocking conversion.
- Use `marketing-grill` when the issue is broader marketing strategy, audience, messaging, funnel, or campaign fit.
- Use `business-model` when the value proposition conflicts with delivery, margin, revenue model, or cliductes.
- Use `customer-research` when customer language, jobs, pains, gains, triggers, or objections need evidence.

## Live Documents

Use or create these documents only when there is real content to record:

- `consultor/strategy/value-proposition.md`
- `consultor/strategy/value-proposition-canvas.md`
- `consultor/strategy/positioning.md`
- `consultor/research/customer-research.md`
- `consultor/marketing/messaging.md`
- `consultor/sales/proof.md`
- `consultor/assumptions.md`
- `consultor/decisions.md`
- `consultor/risks.md`

Use the shared [`propuesta-valor.md`](../../templates/propuesta-valor.md) or [`value-proposition-canvas.md`](../../templates/value-proposition-canvas.md) template when creating a new value proposition document.

## Value Proposition Output

Prefer this concise shape:

```text
For [audience] who [job/pain], [offer] helps [promise/outcome] by [mechanism], unlike [alternative], with proof from [evidence].
```

Also record:

- What is outside the promise.
- What proof is missing.
- What hypothesis must be validated.

## Done Threshold

Pause when audience, job/pain, current alternative, promise, mechanism, benefit, proof gap, scope, and validation step are clear.