It is Alexander Osterwalder who, in his book Value Proposition Design: How to Create Products and Services Customers Want, says “Your customers are the judge, jury, and executioner of your value proposition. They will be merciless if you don’t find fit!”
For years I believed “creating value” was just a business and marketing abstract concept and that once a business convinces itself of its value, the targeted customer would automatically be willing to pay money in exchange of goods and/or services.

I probably was not the only one who underestimated the importance of this concept, perhaps explaining why most businesses fail to invest adequate time to dig into the subject, developing and articulating their value proposition until they find a strategic ‘‘sweet spot” — where the target customers’ needs fit with what’s special about the product or service offering and its capabilities in a way that competitors cannot match.
In my consulting years in the private sector, I recall how potential clients would knock at our doors to request our solutions and services (of course this was at a time when I was working for a global IT and business consulting firm).
My later experience in the public sector was a sharp contrast.
Customer Service Managers and marketers were always at pains trying to sign-up new customers and renewing service level agreements.

It would take months and years to convince a client of our products and services.
Even upon signing up the client, there were never-ending customer satisfaction issues that we, as lines of business, would constantly have to address — with little success.
But why would our customers be so unhappy with our products and services? Is our pricing not right?
Is it our customer-facing personnel that is not well-trained?
We would ponder on these questions constantly, yet still not grasping what value means to our customers. It was always assumed.
Once the light bulb came on, it dawned on me that “value creation” is not just a kind of business-speak.
Rather, creating value captures a salient distinction from doing other things that businesses do to make profit. It is the essence of any business.

The ability of a business to create value is what causes people to want to trade with it.
When a customer is willing to take out their wallet and hand you their money, it is because something is compelling them to give up their money.
They are convinced that, out of that money exchange, they will get something that addresses their need, which is value.
Granted, value can mean many different things, it really depends on the context.
From a business perspective, there is a direct correspondence of relative worth of a good or service and value as determined in an exchange for money.

Thus the latter refers to financial value and the former addresses intrinsic value.
Successful companies have somehow found a way of understanding their customers, properly constructing their value propositions and delivering that value.
Their ability to do that has helped them focus on what their offerings are really worth to the customer.
Not all those successful have been the first to introduce products and/or services to markets.
They have, however, done key things right and one of them is developing smart business models centred around a Customer Value Proposition (CVP) — a promise of potential value that a business delivers to its customers and in essence is the reason why a customer would choose to engage with the business over existing market competition.

Defining a good Customer Value Proposition helps articulate the relevance of a product or service offering by explaining how it solves a problem or improves the customer’s situation in a manner that is different to competitors. There may be several ways of solving the customer’s problem.
Your promise may be premised on delivering quality cheaper and/or faster than everybody else, or you may deliver a better product or service.
Some of those ways may be in existence on the market through competition, also promising to solve these problems.

It is, therefore, important that this promise of value be unique and lucidly expressed in terms of the target buyer, the buyer’s problem being solved, and why the offering is distinctly better than existing alternatives.
More importantly, the promise you make to your customers is the one you have to keep. Your unique value proposition, therefore, is not just a list of customer benefits.
Depending on the type of Value Proposition, it may have to include all favourable points of difference your offering has relative to the next best alternative (favourable points of difference) or key points of difference — and perhaps, a point of parity — to deliver the superior value to the customer for the foreseeable future (resonating focus).

It may be new value, additional value to what you have been offering or better value.
Whichever is adopted, your Value Proposition needs to be well-thought of and crafted as it will dictate and influence your marketing and overall business strategy.
There is no point in dazzling value propositions and yet not actually having the people, processes, tools and requisite experience to back it up.

The truth is that value creation and capture are crucial aspects of any strategic analysis. Innovators, business strategists and entrepreneurs at large work hard to understand exactly what value means to their customers so they can generate it.
However, though on the surface, value propositions seem simple and very straightforward, consumer research studies suggest that value propositions that resonate with customers are exceptionally elusive.
One reason for this is little attention paid on researching and understanding customers prior to developing an offering.

Once companies instil discipline in understanding their customers, they can start making smarter choices about where to allocate limited resources to deliver the value.
If given enough attention, a value proposition can breathe clarity into your business.
A good value proposition is the keystone to developing a strong marketing strategy and moving everyone in your business in the right direction.
The question is: Can you say what your customer Value Proposition is?
Are your customers, who are “the judge, jury, and executioner of your value proposition” crystal clear about how your offering solves their problem?

l Fundisile Serame holds a Masters in Business Information Technology from Tswane University of Technology. She is a Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) alumnus.
She has extensive training in the IT sector both private and public sector

Business

Take a Break from Summer

Published

1 month ago

December 18, 2024

The Post

Press release for KFC Lesotho

Date: Monday, 16 December 2024

Summer, what a wonderful time of year…

When influencing gets too much

When the news cycle gets too much

When the endless queues get too much

When the shopping chaos gets too much

When the unavailable transport gets too much

When the holiday work shifts get too much

When the lawn mowing gets too much

When the loud music gets too much

When the traffic gets too much

When the relentless schedule gets too much

When the heatwaves get too much

When the weather warnings get too much

When the suntan lines get too much

When the ever-growing laundry pile gets too much

When the festivities get too much

When the 2025 university applications get too much

When the guests overstaying their welcome gets too much

When the social media mayhem gets too much

When the out of sync traffic lights get too much

When the New Year resolutions get too much

When the travel expenses get too much

When reapplying sunscreen gets too much

When the packing and unpacking gets too much

When the photo-taking gets too much

When the flies get too much

When the pool maintenance gets too much

When the fully booked airlines get too much

When the mosquito bites get too much

When the fishing trips get too much

When the baking gets too much

When the road trip stops get too much

When the sand in the car gets too much

When the picnic ants get too much

When the papa and morogo get too much

When the braai smoke gets too much

When the television shows get too much

When the homemade cooking gets too much

When the hot car seats get too much

When the outdoor markets get too much

When the air-conditioning bills get too much

When the nature hikes get too much

When the garden-watering gets too much

When the hot sidewalks get too much

When the bike rides get too much

When the late nights get too much

When the impromptu trips get too much

When the 4×4 rides get too much

When the golf games get too much

When the ice cube trays get too much

When the late-night crickets get too much

When the entertaining gets too much

When the bumpy boat rides get too much

When the paddleboarding gets too much

When the public pool crowds get too much

When the lack of parking gets too much

When the summer internships get too much

When all you need is a breather

You have made it to the end. Take a break from summer with KFC Lesotho on Saturday, 21 December, a day to pause, refresh, and savour the start of holiday mode. Swing by KFC for a taste of summer and officially step into the holidays, recharged and ready. See you there!

Discover KFC’s Summer Delights!

KFC Summer Twisters: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LVlAX00WROU

KFC Summer Krushers: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QpCn-tFYrls

KFC Summer Buckets: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SbiOjRR58UA

End.

About KFC Africa

KFC has been in South Africa for over 53 years and has more than 1,300 stores across the country. The first KFC restaurant in South Africa opened in 1971 in Orange Grove, Johannesburg. KFC is the leading quick-service restaurant brand in South Africa with just under a third of market share, according to Brand Image Tracker. KFC serves more than 20 million customers a month and we work hard to ensure that no matter which of our restaurants they walk into, they will get that distinctive KFC flavour and have a great experience. KFC’s Original Recipe® Chicken was first made by Colonel Harland Sanders in 1940 when he perfected his secret recipe of 11 herbs and spices at his restaurant in Kentucky. Today, KFC is the world’s most popular chicken restaurant, still preparing our chicken with the Colonel’s secret recipe to his exact standards. Every KFC restaurant follows the same global processes and procedures to ensure that our customers get great-tasting food, every time.

KFC Lesotho socials:

Instagram – @kfclesotho – https://www.instagram.com/kfclesotho/

Facebook – KFC Lesotho – https://www.facebook.com/LesothoKFC

X – @KFC_Lesotho – https://x.com/KFC_Lesotho

Business

Demystifying death benefit nomination

Published

1 month ago

December 16, 2024

The Post

I recently attended a trustee training session, and it sparked a thousand of opinions and emotions to fellow trustees and principal officers.

It is remarkable how people approach their pension funds with a blend of care and chaos — carefully watching contributions grow but leaving the aftermath of their departure to luck and a roomful of trustees.

With the Pension Fund Act (PFA) 2024 in place, requiring members to fill out and update death benefit nomination forms annually, one would think the process is foolproof.

Yet, we find ourselves navigating the maze of member reluctance and the emotional minefield that comes with deciding who gets what.

The PFA 2024 makes an elegant appeal to order, asking pension fund members to take charge of their legacy by nominating beneficiaries.

But, instead of pens gliding over forms, there is hesitation, resistance, and in some cases, outright abstinence.

What should be a simple administrative act seems to invoke existential dread or, worse, familial politics.

When Nomination Feels Like Negotiation

One of the most notable trends is the discomfort married members feel at the mere suggestion of allocating 50% of their death benefit to a spouse.

For clarity, the PFA does not say they must — but logic and love might.

However, these conversations often spiral into arguments over “what ifs.”

What if the marriage does not last?

What if the spouse uses the money “irresponsibly”?

What if leaving an equal share to children or a secret favourite nephew makes more sense?

These “what ifs” often lead to another troubling “what if”: what if no nomination is made at all?

Emotions run high.

Sometimes, the process of completing the form turns into a reflection of unresolved family tensions, where the form itself becomes a battlefield for hypothetical posthumous power plays.

Trustees, meanwhile, are left to pick up the pieces, making discretionary decisions that almost always leave someone unhappy.

What the Law Actually Says

Let us address the elephant in the room.

The PFA does not dictate that anyone’s spouse, child, or distant cousin must receive a cent.

The law requires you to nominate beneficiaries but leaves the who and how much entirely up to you.

And yet, myths persist, leaving members to believe they are bound to make obligatory allocations.

This misunderstanding is not just inconvenient; it is entirely unnecessary.

The beauty of the PFA lies in its simplicity: nominate someone — anyone — so your trustees don’t have to piece together your
wishes based on tea leaves, distant

relatives, or that one time you mentioned something in passing to a colleague.

The Real Cost of Silence

If leaving decisions to trustees sounds romantic — think noble strangers making wise decisions — let me assure you, it’s not.

Trustees do their best with the tools they have, but without a completed nomination form, their decisions are guided by discretion rather than your explicit intentions.

And discretion, noble as it sounds, often breeds disputes.

Disgruntled beneficiaries are not just an unfortunate byproduct of silence; they are its loudest consequence.

Without clear instructions, your death benefits might fund lawsuits instead of legacies.

Is that truly the financial wisdom you have cultivated over a lifetime of disciplined contributions?

Completing the Form: The Act of Taking Control

Filling out the nomination form isn’t just compliance; it is an act of empowerment.

It’s the financial equivalent of saying, “I trust myself to make the best decisions for my loved ones.”

It’s an opportunity to assert control over your life’s earnings and ensure they benefit those you deem most deserving.

Let us put it plainly: by completing this form, you eliminate guesswork, prevent disputes, and protect your loved ones from unnecessary turmoil.

You also spare trustees from playing Solomon with your assets — a responsibility they never asked for but inherit when you opt for avoidance.

It is not that deep!

For all the effort we pour into overthinking, let’s consider the alternative — actually completing the form.

You’ve already made harder decisions, like choosing between investment portfolios or deciding on your retirement age.

Writing down a name or two, alongside their allocations, is, comparatively, a walk in the park.

And for those of you abstaining because “it’s complicated,” let us reflect: is it more complicated than the potential legal battles, heartache, and chaos that might follow your departure?

Or are we simply procrastinating because planning for death feels uncomfortably final?

Your Legacy, Your Way

At the heart of it all, filling out the nomination form isn’t about complying with a law or appeasing trustees.

It is about ensuring your legacy aligns with your wishes.

It is about giving your loved ones clarity and peace of mind when they need it most.

So, grab that pen.

Fill in that form.

It might not be the most exciting thing you do today, but it could very well be the most meaningful.

After all, if you’ve spent years building a financial future, why let your final act of planning be defined by inaction?

Teboho Makoetlane

Business

More US funding for development projects

Published

2 months ago

December 2, 2024

The Post

MASERU-THOMAS Hines, the US Embassy’s interim head, has applauded Lesotho for passing the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC)’s scorecard, paving way for continued development funding.

The MCC is providing assistance to Lesotho to strengthen good governance, economic freedom and investments in the country, managed by the Millennium Challenge Account (MCA-Lesotho Compact II).

The MCC donated US$300 million (approximately M5.4 billion) for health and horticulture development.

For the country to qualify, it had to pass the MCC’s scorecards.

Hines told Prime Minister Sam Matekane on Tuesday at the State House that the good news is that Lesotho passed, although there are some other things the country has to improve.

For this year, the passing indicators are girls’ primary education completion rate, natural resource protection, land rights and access and fiscal policy.

Indicators that slipped below the pass rate are government effectiveness and freedom of information.

“Of MCC’s 76 scorecards, only 26 countries passed while 50 did not and the good news is that Lesotho once again passed the scorecard,” Hines said.

He said not only did Lesotho pass but it has also improved from passing 15 indicators last year to 17 of 20 indicators this year.

Hines said the accomplishment reflects Matekane and his government’s commitment to strengthening democratic governance and fostering prosperity.

“Noting the decline in control of corruption indicator, we seek avenues to do more together with Lesotho to combat corruption,” he said.

“Not only does regression in this area put Lesotho at risk of failing the scorecard we also know the corrosive impact of corruption on the economy and society.”

He said they seek to maximise the compact’s ability to ensure greater access to quality healthcare.

Matekane said the scorecards assess the government’s performance in key areas throughout the year to determine the continuing eligibility regarding MCC compact funding.

He said last year he urged the cabinet to build on the momentum from 15 out of 20 indicators.

“Let me take this opportunity to celebrate our sustained achievement of passing 17 out of 20 indicators which is a 10 percent increase from last year,” Matekane said.

“Specifically, I committed last year to ensure that Lesotho will submit data to support the assessment of girl’s primary education completion rate,” he said.

He said he was pleased with the progress overall and on gender parity in education and they aim to achieve better results next year.

In addition to this, he said, there is still a lot of work to be done, especially around trade policy, government effectiveness and particularly the freedom of information with a notable decline from 83 percent down to 43 percent.

“Our commitment to control and eliminate corruption remains steadfast. We are working tirelessly to expose corrupt activities, keeping the public sector honest and accountable,” he said.

“The commitment we have made of investing in our people has never wavered over the years and the government is also focused on improving access to quality health services to every Mosotho regardless of their background and location,” he said.

Moipone Makhoalinyane