Unique Value Proposition Builder

Your client holds the same ICF credential as dozens of coaches in their city and has similar training and experience. When they try to articulate why someone should choose them, they default to credential claims and years of practice - the same markers every other coach lists. They are not getting traction on their website or in discovery conversations.

Frame this as an excavation, not a marketing exercise. 'The differentiation is almost certainly already there - it's in what you find yourself caring about in sessions, who you take on most readily, and what results show up repeatedly. We're finding it, not inventing it.' Resistance pattern to name: coaches with strong technical training often anchor on credential parity rather than distinctive approach. Name this directly before they start - 'Credential lists are necessary but not differentiating. We're looking for something that only you would have written.'

Watch how long the client spends on the 'Who I serve best' section. If it fills in quickly with a demographic description (women in leadership, mid-career professionals), probe for specificity about the actual presenting problem those people bring. Demographic targeting without problem specificity produces a UVP that still sounds like everyone else. Also watch whether the 'proof' section is empty or vague - a UVP without evidence is a claim.

Start with whatever section took longest to fill in - that is where the real material lives. Read the drafted UVP statement back to your client and ask: 'Could another coach with similar credentials have written this?' If the answer is yes, the worksheet has more work to do. Then ask: 'Which part of this, if you said it in a discovery conversation, would make someone lean forward?' That question usually surfaces the actual differentiator.

Your client works almost exclusively with high-performing athletes transitioning into corporate leadership roles - a genuinely distinctive niche. When asked to explain their value in a conversation, they either go too narrow ('I work with former D1 athletes') or too conceptual ('I help people transfer peak performance mindsets'). Neither version lands. They know what they do; they cannot explain why it matters to someone who might hire them.

Frame the UVP builder as a translation exercise, not a discovery one. 'You already know your differentiator - what we're building is the version of it that makes sense to someone outside the niche.' The work here is moving from internal fluency to external legibility. Clients with strong niches often resist simplification because the nuance feels essential. Name that upfront: 'The simplest version you can write while staying true is usually the right one.'

Watch for jargon overload in the differentiation section - language that reads like shorthand for people already in the niche rather than an entry point for prospects outside it. Also watch whether the target client description matches what the client actually describes in sessions. Coaches with genuine niches sometimes write aspirational targets rather than actual ones.

Start by asking your client to read the UVP statement as if encountering it for the first time with no context. 'If you did not know what you do, would this sentence make you want to know more?' Then focus on the proof section. Ask: 'What is the most concrete result a client of yours has achieved that you could point to?' If they can name it but it is not in the worksheet, that is the missing piece.

Your client spent 8 years coaching in organizational change management and is deliberately pivoting toward executive presence coaching. They have a strong track record in the old niche but feel like a newcomer in the new one. They are uncertain about how to represent their experience accurately without overstating expertise they are still building.

Frame this as building a bridge UVP - one that is honest about the pivot while making the case for why the old experience is an asset in the new direction. 'Your eight years are not irrelevant to executive presence - they've given you an angle most executive presence coaches don't have. The question is how to make that explicit without making it the whole story.' Name the resistance pattern: pivot-stage coaches often either overclaim continuity or understate their background entirely. The worksheet holds both.

Watch whether the differentiation section skips the transition entirely - treating the new niche as if the past never existed. Also watch whether your client writes two separate UVPs (one for each niche) and cannot synthesize them. That fragmentation is often a signal that the pivot is not yet resolved internally, not just in the messaging.

Start with the 'Who I serve best' section. Ask: 'Which past clients from your organizational change work have shown up in the executive presence work?' If there is overlap, that is the connective tissue for the UVP. Then read the differentiator section aloud and ask: 'Does this sound like someone who has earned the right to say this, or someone who is still figuring it out?' Your client can usually hear the difference.