Stay away from editing it as much as possible, except for your grammar of course. You will water down the statement trying to appeal to everyone versus the segment you are actually marketing too. Do not worry about alienating anyone that is the purpose, discrimination in this sense is not bad! Tim says, “Remember that moving forward on your purpose means saying “no” to jobs, clients, and customers for whom your purpose is not appropriate. Therefore, your public purpose should be a simple and clear articulation in of what you do and who you do it for, in the most purposeful terms possible.”

Steps to creating your Need Statement:

1. Write down the list of possible options you need to choose from.

2. For each option, write a list of pros and cons.

3. Read each statement and rate them by the most useful aspects of your product or service.

4. Ask for advice from salespeople, customers, dealers and other stakeholders within the marketing segment. It is best to read it out loud to a client, such as an elevator speech would be used. The worst thing you could do is to do this by yourself.

5. Weighing these factors make a choice. It does not even have to be the best choice, just the one you choose to live with.

6. Now, try it out. If a sample client “doesn’t get it” then you may need to change the wording, not the meaning of the statement. If you statement inspires, you are ready for prime time. 7. If your sampling struggles with what you are offering, re-think your strategy going through these steps.

8. Re-read what others said about your offering.

9. Using what others said, brainstorm different ideas on how to say the message.

10. Now try different combinations of the 2 list to come up with simple statements that describe what you do and for whom you do it for.

11. Read the statement out loud to others. See which one creates the most interest.

I may go one step further. Play telephone with a group of 4 to 5 people. The message that comes through the last person is more than likely the message that will get transmitted throughout the rest of your marketing process.

P.S. If you are getting ready to map that Customer starting point in your Value Stream Map, this is what you write in that little box with the sawtooth shape on top.

Technorati : Mapping, Marketing Process, Marketing Vision, Value stream Map

A value stream map will take into account not only the activity of the product, but the management and information systems that support the basic process. You will gain insight into the decision making flow in addition to the process flow. The basic idea is to first map your process, then above it map the information flow that enables the process to occur.

Why use Software for Value Stream Mapping? I think th euse of software that is written specifically for Value Stream Mapping is importnat. It forces you to make a decision to drill down into the subject as you are doing it versus later in the process. This particular tool is interesting because of the ability to Excel’s powerful scenarios to analyze multiple sets of numbers without needing to redraw an almost identical map over and over again. Take a look at some of the other features.

1. Visually see your entire process flow using the language of Lean to learn to see and eliminate wastes
2. Answer the question How can we make only what we need when we need it?
3. Form a blueprint for Lean implementation to rally your team to eliminate wastes
4. Instant o n-line training for Lean concepts and techniques
5. Easily customized written in Excel with all of its familiar formulas and charts
6. Professional deliverables easily stored, emailed, and shared
7. Drill down to swim lane flowcharts and other related documents
8. Import Old comparison data with the click of a button
9. Inexpensive to easily share & collaborate

Related Posts:

Simple, Easy to use Lean Six Sigma Software tools

Do you know much value you provide? If not, how can you be more effective?

5 Step Process to Lean Marketing

Technorati : 6 Sigma, Excel, Lean, Mapping, Six Sigma, Software, Value Stream

In the book Lean Thinking, James P. Womack and Daniel T. Jones defined value stream mapping as: “Identification of all the specific activities occurring in a value stream for a product or product family.” It is typically used in Lean as it differs from the process mapping procedure of Six Sigma in several ways:

• Higher level than many process maps
• Has a wider range of information.
• Identifies future projects, subprojects, and/or kaizen events

How do I use this in marketing? I simply take the Duct Tape Marketing hour glass(Marketing Funnel) or as I call it one of the Pillars in the Lean Marketing House and assign the processes to enable the flow. As you can see the natural progression of the flow (know, like, trust… flow to the right), the enablers or information to move the process forward is provided above each step. Taking a group of current customers, you can identify this in your current process. If this seems to difficult, make a certain group that you can segment somehow and document the process. May companies will find huge gaps in their processes which are supported by other departments such as sales or service or maybe by repetitive marketing. Hmm! Sounds like an opportunity to find some waste or Muda!

I will discuss quantifying these processes tomorrow using the Measure phase of the Six Sigma process.

Technorati : Duct Tape Marketing, Lean, Mapping, Marketing, Muda, Six Sigma, Value, Waste