Stage Two: Value Definition

Value Definition Typically takes 2-3 hours per Solution

Once the Knowledge Framework for a Value Map has been built, the product manager / marketer can begin to contribute knowledge to the map by answering a couple of fundamental, but very specific, questions for each Topic.

The answers to these questions are called Relevant Insights (see below) and they are easily entered into the Relevant Insights section of each Topic.  Each Relevant Insight can also be linked to other characteristics so companies can capture the subtleties and nuances for different Market Segments, Stakeholders, and Competitors. 

Relevant Insights are typically the responsibility of the product manager / marketer who built the map but they can also be contributed by other authorized subject matter experts thereby improving the over all value of the knowledge in the Value Map through structured collaboration.

The Relevant Insights section for each Topic contains the answers to the following questions:

• Relevant Insights for each Customer Need and Underlying Issue:
• Why should this particular need or issue be a priority for the customer?
• What other insights should we discuss with the customer about this need or issue?
• Relevant Insights for each Solution Value Scenario:
• How would the customer actually use the Solution to solve this specific Customer Need?
• What tangible value would the customer achieve from this?
• How do we prove this value?
• Relevant Insights for each Capability Value Scenario:
• How would the customer actually use this Key Capability to solve this specific issue?
• What tangible value would the customer achieve from this?
• How is this capability different from our competition?
• What extra value does this differentiation provide the customer? 
•  How do we prove this value?

To contribute a Relevant Insight, a product manager / marketer just clicks on a Topic from either a Tree Map or Visual Value Map and they are brought to a dynamically generated Knowledge Page for that specific Topic. All Knowledge Pages follow the following format.

The top section of the page identifies the type of Topic and the specific name of the Topic.  In this example the type is Customer Need and the name is Customer Need 2.

The top section of the page also shows some contextual information about this particular Topic, including which Market Segments, Stakeholders, and Competitors are associated with this Topic.

At the bottom of the page are three Knowledge Tabs.

• Relevant Insights which contain the knowledge contributed in Stage Two
• Best Sales Practices which contain knowledge that’s contributed in Stage Three once the entire marketing and sales organization is given access to the Value Map.
• Content & Sales Tools which contain links to Topic specific marketing and sales content that are also added in Stage Three.   

To add a Relevant Insight to a specific Topic, the product manager / marketer chooses the question they want to answer and clicks on the Add New button to bring up the following knowledge entry window where they type in the insight and link it to the appropriate Market Segment and or Stakeholder.