You will produce a one-page reference you can use before any meeting about this product.
A buyer messages to ask whether you can meet tomorrow at 9am. You say yes, and that night you try to remember everything you know about the product: who it suits, what it does for them, the proof you have, the things it does badly. Half of it is in your head, some in an old slide deck, some in a WhatsApp thread with your manager. You go in underprepared, and the meeting drifts into features.
A value sheet fixes that. It is a single page that sets out, for one product, who it suits, what it does for each of them in their terms, the proof you have, and where it falls short. It pulls together lessons 4.1 to 4.3 into something you can read in two minutes before any meeting. This exercise takes about twenty-five minutes.
Choose one product or service you sell, or could sell. Then name the three types of buyer it suits best. Be specific enough that you could picture one person: "a dual-income couple with a toddler" is a buyer type, "families" is not.
For each type, write the main problem in one sentence, in their words, as you practised in lesson 1.1. If you cannot write the sentence, you probably do not know this buyer type well enough yet, and that is worth knowing.
For each buyer type, write the two benefits that matter most to them. Use the bridge phrase from lesson 4.1, which means that, to get from feature to benefit. Then state each benefit in the currency that buyer thinks in, from lesson 4.2: money, time, risk or status.
Two is enough. A list of six benefits per buyer is a feature list in disguise, and in a real meeting you will only use the first two anyway.
For each buyer type, add one piece of proof. A short client story from lesson 4.3 with permission to share, a testimonial, or a reference who will take a call. Then add one honest limit: the situation where this product is not a good fit for that buyer, or the thing it does not do. Lesson 2.3 explained why the limit makes the rest of the sheet more believable.
Here is a value sheet for a fortnightly home cleaning service, with figures as examples only.
Busy couple with a toddler, 4-room flat in Sengkang. Problem: "Every weekend disappears into cleaning, and we still never catch up." Benefit 1, time: a fixed slot every other Thursday means about four hours of their weekend back. Benefit 2, risk: the same vetted cleaner each visit, so they are not letting a different stranger into the flat with a toddler at home. Proof: a family in Punggol, quoted with permission, who said they now spend Saturdays at the playground instead of mopping. Limit: no ironing or childcare, so if that is the real need this is the wrong service. Retiree living alone in a condo. Problem: "My knees can't manage the bathroom any more, and my daughter worries." Benefit 1, risk: heavy cleaning done safely, with no climbing or kneeling. Benefit 2, status: his daughter in London sees a short note after each visit, so she stops worrying and he stops feeling checked on. Proof: a reference, a client's son, who has agreed to take calls. Limit: cleaners cannot help with medication or personal care. Landlord between tenants. Problem: "The flat needs to look right for viewings, and I'm working full time." Benefit 1, money: a cleaner flat that photographs and shows better may help it let sooner, which matters when each empty month costs rent. Benefit 2, time: one booking covers the deep clean before viewings, so no taking leave. Proof: none yet for this buyer type, which the sheet says honestly. Limit: no repairs or painting.
Notice the gaps the sheet exposes. The landlord column has no proof, and the money benefit there is stated carefully because there is no data behind it. A value sheet is useful partly because it shows you where you are guessing.
Cut until it fits on one page. That is a rule with a reason: a three-page document sits in a folder, while a single page gets read in the lift on the way up to the meeting. If you are over, shorten the sentences before you drop a buyer type.
A finished sheet fits on one page, names three buyer types a stranger could picture, uses each buyer's words for the problem, and has two benefits, a proof point and a limit for each. Anyone in your team could read it and explain the product to the right buyer.
Pick your product now, decide on your three buyer types, and write their problem sentences on a blank page before you open the template in the activity below.
Complete the value sheet template for one product and test it by explaining the product to a friend in two minutes using only the sheet.
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