Answer in the Worksheet Writer and save as Markdown
Source: Chapter 4 / KM027-KM033. The questions and tables below carry the concepts and questions from KM027-KM033 into a form you can fill in, without adding any new methodology.
1. Problem → Attribute → Solution → Product/Service (KM027)
| Item | Your Entry |
|---|
| The customer’s core problem | |
| Attribute of the problem (in market language) | |
| The solution that addresses this attribute | |
| The product/service that implements the solution | |
| The concrete change created for the customer (the solved outcome) | |
- Check question: Are we describing “what we developed,” or “what problem we solved, in what way, and what change it creates for the customer”?
- Check question: In our current product configuration, is there any spec that adds cost without solving the customer’s core problem?
2. Competing Products and Substitutes (KM028)
List every alternative the customer currently uses to solve this problem. (Include not only competing products in the same product category, but also substitutes that solve the same problem in a different way)
| Category | Name of Alternative | How It Solves the Same Problem |
|---|
| Competing product | | |
| Competing product | | |
| Substitute | | |
| Substitute | | |
- Check question: Is what we call a “competitor” another company in the same industry, or any solution that delivers similar value to the same customer segment?
- Check question: Looking at this from the customer problem, is there an alternative we are missing that is completely different in form?
3. Comparison Metric Design (KM029)
Itemize the criteria the customer actually uses when comparing us against the competing alternatives.
| Comparison Metric | Our Product | Competing Alternative A | Competing Alternative B | Does this metric influence the customer’s purchase decision? (Yes/No) |
|---|
| | | | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
- Check question: Is this metric a technical spec we want to boast about, or a criterion that influences the customer’s purchase decision?
- Check question: Are we missing any non-technical factors such as delivery time, maintenance, ease of installation, or cost savings?
- Check question: Can we turn a claim like “our technology is superior” into a number or condition, in the form “shortens/improves X from X to X”?
4. Competitive Advantage Check (KM030)
- Check question: Is this advantage strong enough to make the customer choose us?
- Check question: Does the customer have to bear additional cost or change their behavior to adopt this solution?
- Check question: Is this a difference we can deliver repeatedly, or a one-off?
5. Value Proposition Summary (KM031)
| Item | Your Entry |
|---|
| Which customer’s problem (need) | |
| The solution provided | |
| Reason for choice over existing alternatives | |
| Type of transaction relationship (B2C / B2B / B2G) | |
| Emphasis based on the transaction relationship (e.g., B2C — experiential value / B2B — organizational outcomes / B2G — institutional fit) | |
- Check question: Is our value proposition a single connected logic of customer problem, solution, and reason for choice — or does it stop at a sentence listing strengths?
- Check question: If the customer or the buying structure changes, should this value proposition also change? How?
6. Positioning Check (KM032)
- If you list the peer companies in the market (or similar products or services), who are they?
- Which companies or products/services could be my competitors, with the same positioning as mine?
- What value factors can you point to as the basis for saying they share the same positioning as mine?
- Compared with my competitors, what am I superior at?
7. Positioning-4P Alignment (KM033)
| 4P Element | My Item | Is It Consistent with the Positioning? (Yes/No, reason) |
|---|
| Product/Service | | |
| Price | | |
| Place | | |
| Promotion | | |
- Check question: When the initial “positioning, distribution, pricing” hypothesis is reviewed against resources and cost, does the final positioning and 4P hold as is?
- Note: This worksheet does not expand the 4P into a detailed operating plan. What needs to be confirmed here is whether the chosen positioning is consistent with the direction of the product, price, channel, and communication. Concrete cost, margin, price level, and revenue model calculations, and the alignment of the full business model, are covered in the next chapter (Designing the Business Model).