Many B2B firms struggle to stand out from the noise. The answer? TMP Pro: a practical methodology to identify your point of difference.

1. Growing B2B
success on a stronger
value proposition
A practical methodology to
identify your point of difference
TMP PRO: proposition refinement and optimisation

2. Are you
different,
really?
B2B vendors want to become more
than just suppliers. They’re expanding
their portfolios and positioning
themselves as strategic partners.
It’s an ambitious goal, and one that
makes it hard to stand out. As a result,
most B2B offerings look and sound
the same. And the blame often sits
with marketing.
When campaign messaging attempts
to say too much, it can lose focus.
It can lack clarity. It can become just
part of the noise.
The impact is two-fold. Buyers feel
confused and frustrated. Sales teams
find it harder to close deals.

3. Find your
‘you’
For us, successful sales and marketing
starts with one thing: a clear and distinct
value proposition.
It’s the foundation that should underpin
every sales conversation, every marketing
message and every awareness campaign.
It’s your identity. It’s what helps your
organisation stand out in a crowded market.
And we have a proven methodology to help
find and refine yours.
What do we mean by a ‘proposition’?
Many B2B organisations mistake their proposition for their
product or service. Which rarely explains the true ‘value’
for the customer. A clear and distinct proposition will vary
according to your specific marketing objective. For example:
Brand proposition
The story your overall business wants to tell
Business proposition
The story for a specific product, solution or service
Campaign proposition
The story within a particular campaign or launch

4. We all want clarity
We partnered with Marketing Week to
survey hundreds of B2B marketers on what
makes effective marketing.
This revealed some key insights:
organisations believe campaigns
fail due to flaws in positioning
of organisations believe that
they are well differentiated
was rated in the top two drivers
of marketing effectiveness
1 in 3
Only 35%
The value proposition
We’ve also conducted research
to find out what senior enterprise
IT buyers think of their suppliers’
marketing efforts.
Here’s what B2B buyers want
more of:
• Detail and passion about
a product or service
• An interest in their challenges
and requirements
• Shared, honest learnings
from previous projects
• Actionable insight on
industry trends
• Practical knowhow on
mitigating the risk of change
• A clear and stress-free route
to purchase
So, TMP believes in the value of a clear and
distinct proposition. But what do suppliers
and buyers think? In short, it all comes
down to clarity.
• Buyers want a clear understanding of why
you are the right choice for their business
• As a supplier, you need to make that as easy
to understand for them as possible
Which starts with the value proposition.

5. So why is
it so hard?
Most value propositions
don’t work because:
• They lack depth; important detail is lost
in favour of conciseness
• They don’t have a strong opinion or clear
point of view
• The needs and complexities of the audience
aren’t properly explored
• They don’t focus enough on commercial
impacts or business outcomes
• Evidence of success is limited to just a few
case studies
• They don’t use competitor or market insights
to demonstrate a clear difference

6. Let’s get
to your
heart
At TMP, we’ve taken hundreds of
complex propositions to market
over the years.
From crafting high-level brand
stories for global telecoms
operators, to identifying niche
demand-gen hooks for SaaS firms,
we love getting to the heart of
what makes our clients unique.
We use TMP PRO – our
practical three-phase approach
to proposition refinement and
optimisation – to drive real
commercial outcomes.
Phase 1 Phase 2 Phase 3
Building an
understanding
30- to 60-minute telephone interviews with:
• Solution architects
• Salespeople
• Implementation and delivery teams
• Purchasing decision makers
Our starting point is to talk with
knowledge holders and experts, both
inside and outside your organisation,
to uncover the strengths and
differentiators of your proposition.
We also carry out research on competitors
and relevant sector trends. And we tap into the
intelligence that our Demand Generation team
has gathered from previous campaigns and activity.
All of which helps with the next phase.

7. Let’s get
to your
heart
Phase 1 Phase 2 Phase 3
Defining your
difference
The value proposition statement may include:
• How you tackle customer problems
• Why you are relevant to them now
• What you want them to do about it
This is where we start drawing out the key insights from
the research and knowledge into something tangible.
First, we look at your overall positioning in the market
to identify where you win versus the competition.
Then we get really specific on what you want to achieve
– and we do this using the Get (Who) To By model.
Think of it as shorthand for your strategic direction
(for internal use only).
Next up, we formulate a value
proposition statement. This should
clearly articulate why customers will
care about your offering.
To further help your sales conversations,
we also create an elevator pitch –
which builds on the value proposition
to tell more of your story.
And to cover off the nuances for different
audiences, we’ll build out bespoke
industry and persona messaging too.A clear framework to develop distinct messaging:
• Get your audience, who are currently thinking/doing “X”
• To see the value of “Y”, and thereby consider your proposition
• By showing/telling/educating them about “Z”
At TMP, we’ve taken hundreds of
complex propositions to market
over the years.
From crafting high-level brand
stories for global telecoms
operators, to identifying niche
demand-gen hooks for SaaS firms,
we love getting to the heart of
what makes our clients unique.
We use TMP PRO – our
practical three-phase approach
to proposition refinement and
optimisation – to drive real
commercial outcomes.

8. Let’s get
to your
heart
Phase 1 Phase 2 Phase 3
Making it
actionable
A proposition deck or “playbook” for sales and marketing
teams, including:
• Audience insights
• Value proposition statement
• Messaging framework
• Commercial proof points
• Relevant case studies
• Sales and marketing tactics and execution
Here’s where we share with you the proposed
messaging, refine it together, and supply you with all
the evidence and thinking we have used. The aim is to
get agreement with your key stakeholders that the new
proposition is robust and practical for long-term use.
Following this work, we help you
develop a detailed go-to-market
plan, based on activities that have
proven to be effective for similar
propositions and challenges.
At TMP, we’ve taken hundreds of
complex propositions to market
over the years.
From crafting high-level brand
stories for global telecoms
operators, to identifying niche
demand-gen hooks for SaaS firms,
we love getting to the heart of
what makes our clients unique.
We use TMP PRO – our
practical three-phase approach
to proposition refinement and
optimisation – to drive real
commercial outcomes.

9. “Sage and PwC have a successful
alliance to implement Sage X3,
but we lacked a clear narrative
about the benefits. TMP helped
us articulate the alliance and
convert it into a compelling story
to support our next campaign.”
Laura Hansford, Sage
Get in touch
Taking a new message or solution to the market? Need to refresh
your existing narrative and communications? Looking to improve
the effectiveness of your campaigns?
Our team of strategists and marketing consultants would be happy to
explain how TMP PRO could help refine and optimise your own propositions.
Please contact:
Oli Marshall, Head of Strategy
omarshall@themarketingpractice.com
01235 433421
Ally Bancroft, Global Client Practice Director
abancroft@themarketingpractice.com
01235 433498
Steve Johnson, Client Services Director, UK
sjohnson@themarketingpractice.com
01235 433436