The Importance of a Value Proposition

August 5, 2009
Bob Pagano

One of the obvious questions raised during difficult economic times is how to maintain a consistent flow of qualified applicants.

With many parents opting out of private schools in an effort to save for the increased cost of college, even the most prestigious independent schools are at risk. Parents with healthy incomes are challenged to pay up to $40,000 per year for a private school (in today’s dollars) and as much as $60,000 per year in the future for each year of college. Those with more than one child need to earn a substantial income if they expect to fund the cost of private education without jeopardizing their ongoing savings for retirement. Perhaps now more than at any other time in recent memory, private schools must provide prospective parents and students with a compelling value proposition or face declining enrollments in the years ahead.

We have had the opportunity to work with a number of independent schools and colleges and based on our experience we offer the following observations.

Mission and Vision Are Not Enough

Having reviewed numerous independent school websites it is refreshing to see that most independent schools have a tab for their mission and vision statements. When these are combined with the school’s history, it becomes clear to readers how unique each and every school truly is.

Mission and vision statements are valuable because they define institutional values and beliefs which in turn, serve as anchoring principles and guidelines from which the school operates. However, mission and vision statements by themselves, do not always provide strong enough reasons for parents to make a clear choice, especially when they are about to invest thousands of dollars. The value proposition is intended to overcome these reservations by translating the mission and vision statements into language that will make more sense to hesitant buyers.

The most effective value proposition:  

1. Defines what today’s students will likely be up against not only in terms of college (near-term) but also personal and career choices later in life.
2. Articulates how a school’s mission and vision, structure, and curriculum have evolved over time to ensure that graduates have the personal, academic, and social tools required to compete. 
3. Offers supporting reasons across a broad spectrum of school programs and activities that provide evidence of the school’s ability to maintain a high level of relevancy with regard to the future.

Developing the Value Proposition

To demonstrate the importance you place on student preparation for life, learning, and success, you should draw on your mission and vision statements and then develop a hypothesis for what will be required to successfully compete in the years ahead.

If you reflect on it, the school’s founders (who most likely developed your mission and vision statements) were trying to create a raison d’etre, to fill a void in the education marketplace that they felt strongly about. They undoubtedly reasoned that success in the future would be best achieved through the institution they conceived and founded.

One approach to validating the hypothesis is to develop a white paper, complete with input from external academics or education thought leaders, which lays out your assumptions followed by the appropriate proof-points. The paper should draw on your school’s historical strengths explaining how core beliefs coupled with new approaches to learning combine to create a formidable platform for student development, and how your school’s structure, curriculum, and programs are all deliberately designed to deliver on the proposition.

At the outset, you should assemble a small team of internal and external constituents to craft the value proposition over a series of half-day workshops. Ideally, the team should include board members, senior administrators, key faculty, parents, and students. Keep the team small; no more than eight to 10 people.

Before you start: 

• Gather all important information that will enable the team to develop an effective value proposition, including your mission and vision statements.
• Gather input from any existing market surveys.
• Consider a parent survey that asks what they believe will be the most important qualifications and characteristics required for success in the next 30 years.  Candid phone interviews with prospects who were "accepted but declined" as well as current students leaving to attend another school will also provide important information for your team.

Start by evaluating your current "brand" strengths/weaknesses as well as those of your key competitors; without this information, you risk developing a value proposition that is not relevant and could even be misleading. Then, develop a view of the future, list the criteria the team believes to be critical factors for student success and prioritize that list in order of importance.

Compare current curriculum and program offerings to your prioritized criteria to identify gaps. Define which gaps are hurting you now and why and which ones could have more impact later on and why.

Brainstorm the gaps that can be closed short-term and those that will require long-term change. For each gap, estimate the impact on admissions today and in the future. Three critical pieces of data should now be visible to you: 

1. Underleveraged strengths that could be used to attract more applications;
2. Weaknesses that are hurting acquisition and retention; and
3. The extent to which the value proposition (you developed earlier) can be achieved and at what level of investment (in terms of program/curriculum adjustments and  the amount of time it will take to get there).

Using this data, you can develop a value proposition that doesn’t overpromise and also provides a more compelling story. As you invest in changes, you can "dial-up" the value proposition toward your ultimate goal.

Marketing the Value Proposition

Many schools remain loyal to their mission and vision statements but fail to create a compelling and relevant value proposition to bring them to life. The white paper approach makes a strong case why your school will be a student’s best choice.

An effective value proposition should always be kept current in terms of your programs/curriculum and their relevancy to the future. Updating the proposition periodically is a good exercise that keeps everyone alert to the changing environment and the need to remain relevant to future challenges.

Activating your value proposition throughout the school is an important step that brings it to life and engenders decisions, actions, and behaviors designed to reinforce core principles. One way to do this is to translate the white paper into a short video for your website and/or as an internal tool for current parents and students. Many successful institutions use video as the first exposure visitors have to their website, often as a way of setting an exciting and engaging tone for their "brand."

It can also be used as a core admissions tool that shows prospects that you have a strong focus toward preparing their son/daughter for a successful future.   

However you decide to apply it, you may discover that your value proposition will become one of the most important tools you can use to build a strong case for your school. With a strong value proposition, your mission and vision will remain as relevant and compelling as they were when they were first conceived by your founders.