Value Propositions1

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• Submit text questions

• Q&A addressed at the end of today’s session; written answers to the questions will be made available after the call

How to Participate in Today’s Webinar2

Goals for Today’s Webinar

• Get everyone really thinking about what it takes to get parents to pay their money to let you serve their child(ren).

• Provide thoughts and examples you can take back andwork on with others at your school.

• Encourage you to start hands-on efforts to enhance the quality and communication of a more compelling value proposition.

• Share ideas with each other and help each other improveour chances of successfully enrolling children.

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Tie to the Enrollment Management Framework4

What’s a Value Proposition?

“… an offer defined in terms of the target customers, the benefits offered to these customers, and the price charged relative to the competition.”(Knox et al, 2003)

“… describes the total customer experience with the firm … over time, rather than [being limited to] that communicated at the point of sale.” (Molineux, 2002)

• Prices up to 40% below MSRP• Millions of books, movies, and other products• Acts as a trusted online retailer

• Guaranteed overnight delivery• Goes above and beyond to keep commitments• Easy to do business with; consistent across

locations, countries, lines of business, etc.

• Friendliness, cleanliness, consistency, and convenience

• Individual food products meeting individual customer taste preferences

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What Do Parents Look For from Your School?

Why should I spend my

money to send

my child to

your school?“will they really help my babyto…”

“do I trust them toreally be better?”

“hmm, money’s tight … the public school is free …”

AND IS IT REALLY – REALLY – DIFFERENT THAN MY OTHER OPTIONS?

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What’s NOT a Value Proposition?

• Fedex: “When it absolutely, positively has to be there overnight” is close as itembodies the underlying value proposition. FedEx’s operations make this true.

• McDonalds: Is “I’m lovin’ it” really their value proposition?

Slogans and mission statements are – by themselves – NOT value propositions!!

Things that I/we value don’t qualify, unless the customer values them too.

• “Catholic and Safe” are relatively more/less meaningful based on the target market.• Educationese risks being meaningless unless we give it meaning

– e.g., “we do RTI” or “our students are in the 9th stanine.”

Simple lists of programs don’t constitute a value proposition either.• Does a 2-page long bulleted list of all the “stuff” you have fully address the

very personal decision a parent is making?• Creating an understanding of our programs is relevant, but only after the harder

work of answering “why should they send their child to our school” and“what differentiates us.”

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Brand Success Requires:

• Relevance to our target’s core need

• Distinctiveness

• Delivering against the promise made (i.e., it’s real)

• Top of mind

• Consistency

“It’s better to meet 100% of the needs of 20% of the audiencethan 20% of the needs of 100% of the audience.” John Sheehy, Leo Burnett and Co., 10/21/09

Key Point:

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Differentiation (“Distinctiveness”) Requires:

• A combination of a functional offering (e.g., education) and arelated emotional reaction (e.g., trust).

• The best differentiators are clear, unique, and easy to explain.

• Differentiating on something other than a core needis nice, but not particularly impactful; making up a “core” need to fit our differentiator doesn’t work.

• We have to be aware of and work to minimize negativedifferentiators versus competing alternatives.

“Without a rational / functional base it is extremelydifficult to ladder up to an emotional benefit.” John Sheehy, Leo Burnett and Co., 10/21/09

Key Point:

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Let Me Propose…• Value isn’t just a slogan or a mission statement

– value has to be real to the potential customer.

• “Catholic and safe” are core, but not enough by themselvesany more … we all have the enrollment stats to prove it.

• Consumers demand proof, especially if they have choices.

• Schools are a VERY individual value decision; we benefit by making our value address objective and subjective needs.

• The real competition isn’t St. Cecilia down the street; we need Catholic parents considering non-Catholic schools.

• Parents demand value, and they deserve real value.

• It would be illuminating to listen to our target market’s real value assessment for each school. Do we? Why can’t we?

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Is Our Traditional Value Proposition Compelling Enough?

Traditional Catholic School Selling

Points

Public SchoolSelling Points

Faith-Based = w. CCD?

Better Education than Public Schools ??

Safe ??

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Is Our Traditional Value Proposition Compelling Enough?

Traditional Catholic School Selling

Points

Public SchoolSelling Points

Faith-Based = w. CCD?

Better Education than Public Schools ??

Safe ??

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Is Our Traditional Value Proposition Compelling Enough?

Traditional Catholic School Selling

Points

Public SchoolSelling Points

Faith-Based = w. CCD?

Better Education than Public Schools ??

Safe ??

Free

And oh, by the way, how are we really differentiated?

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Which is a More Compelling Value Proposition?

WHAT DO YOU GET FROM THIS MARKETING PIECE?

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Which is a More Compelling Value Proposition?

WHAT DO YOU GET FROM THE VIDEO?

http://www.academystbenedict.org/

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What’s Their Value Proposition?

HERE’S WHAT I GET FROM THE VIDEO:

• Love• Mission• Student growth and success• Happy, healthy kids• “Deshanae became a whole

better person”• Dedication• Personal attention,

small class sizes• Committed to

student success• Prepare for selective

high schools

• Safety• Faith and values• Outdoor space in the

inner-city• Many programs• Before and after-care for

working parents• Testimonials from parents• Testimonials from kids• “Peace of mind is worth

any tuition payment”• I see my child being

happy and successful here

Important for Any School

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What’s Their Value Proposition? (cont.)

THE SCHOOL WANTS TO MAKE SURE THAT WE UNDERSTAND:

• Our teachers know the students and their families by name, and keep them safe.

• We are a community rooted in faith, love, and values.

• We ensure that students succeed academically.

• Our graduates are admitted to selective magnet and private high schools, often earning scholarships.

• Busy working families are served from 6:15am until 6:15pm.

• We utilize technology to enhance our students’ learning and growth.

• Our teachers meet the individual needs of each student.

• Our academic program is enriched by extracurricular activities, includingsports, art, music, and dance.

• We work with families to make this investment affordable.

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What Makes an Exemplary Value Proposition?

• There is a clear and prioritized message to families we don’t already have.

• There is a compelling statement that we’re better than free;they answer clearly “why should I send my child to your school?”

• There is at least some uniqueness and differentiation.

• They evoke a positive reaction – on both emotional and objective levels.

• They do this in a way that’s creative, visual and eye-catching.

• They talk to prospective families in multiple voices(parents, students, teachers, etc.).

• There is a clear call to action (e.g., “Road to 180”, enroll today, visit, etc.).

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What Can We Do? Use the Value Proposition Template Key Value Statement Potential Proof Points – i.e., Why Should They Believe Us? Potential Communication

Methods / Tools

EXAMPLE

Our students are accepted and excel at the best selective high schools in the Chicagoland area

EXAMPLE • Our recent graduates have attended St. Ignatius, Loyola Academy,

Fenwick, Mother McAuley, etc. • Our graduates received $XX,000 in merit-based scholarships to these

high schools. • The high schools report that our graduates consistently place on their

honor rolls for academic achievement, demonstrating the strong academic base they formed at our school.

• Testimonial – “We find the graduates of St. Cecilia School to be very well prepared for our demanding college prep program. We also find them to be very mature and service-oriented – St. Cecilia School should be as proud of their graduates as we are.”

• Story Line(s) – “Jane Doe was a member of our Young Leaders Program, where select 7th and 8th grade students are given additional learning and growth opportunities. Jane participated in … Now that Jane is attending Fenwick she has continued her success by…”

EXAMPLE • Pictures of graduates – at

both elementary and high school levels

• Pictures of junior high students taking exams, participating in service programs, etc.

• Testimonials from parents, high school

• Video interviews with high school students who graduated from the elementary school

• • • • • • Testimonial – • Story Line(s) –

•

• • • • •

•

The completed template easily becomes the basis for the marketing

section(s) of web sites, brochures, etc.

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We’ll be tempted to let our value proposition get buried or stale

(e.g., on our web site) – DON’T!!!

What Can We Do? Utilize the Entire Framework20

Putting all this work into our valuepropositions only has impact if we are

proactive in the rest of the framework too!

Questions & Discussion21

Future AMEN & ADC Offerings22

• AMEN Dates: 12/7, 2/17, 4/17

• ADC Dates: 11/30, 1/25, 3/28, 5/2

• Annual Fund Workshop Series: 1/18, 2/15, 2/29, 3/21, 4/4

• Other Webinars – TBD

Sources

Knox, S., Maklan, S., Payne, A., Peppard, J. and Ryals, L. (2003) Customer Relationship Management: Perspectives from the Marketplace. Butterworth Heineman, Oxford, UK.

Molineux, P. (2002) Exploiting CRM. Connecting with customers. Hodder and Stoughton, London, UK.

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