Years ago I became familiar with a company called MECLABS Institute and particularly appreciated the way they explained 'Value Proposition.'

This is a term we've all heard lots of times, but until I really dug into it, I couldn't have explained it to anyone articulately. I still can't do THAT, but I can understand the basic concept.

They developed a simple concept to help marketers really get to the core of their approach, and that has helped me in my role as a strategic advisor, to help others.

I will try to share it here, but if I fail, you can go to this link and get a 45 minute explanation from the company founder Flint McGlaughlin as part of a virtual course.

What got me thinking about Value Proposition are the two gas signs you see. I drive by these locations twice per week and it is always the same.

They sit across the street from each other and have, to put it mildly, radically different pricing structures. And yet, I see cars filling up at the Mobil station pumps as often as I see them at the 7-11 pumps.

The one station this week had regular unleaded for $3.79 per gallon, the highest I've seen in the area. The other had a more modest $2.99 per gallon.

I always thought gas stations located that close together priced their gasoline competitively. But that Mobil station owner is on a different program.

Over the past year, I've waited for the Mobil station to drop prices or go out of business, and then I started waiting for the 7-11 to raise prices or go out of business. Neither happened as the photos taken this past weekend show.

Each of these businesses has a value proposition, and I am not going to tell you what they are, because I have no idea. I am going to share a few thoughts about the world we live in and how it is filled with selections we, and others, make based on the value proposition of people and organizations we encounter.

Value Proposition development or Value Proposition revision involves looking at an organization, or yourself, from the prospect's perspective and involves answering one basic question:

We spend our whole life being asked this question in a variety of forms:

Obviously the list goes on an on.

If you think back to the time you were selected or hired or promoted or someone spoke to you at a networking event or bought gas from you, you can probably discover what your 'Only Factor' was that day or in that situation.

You or your organization had some type of appeal. You were tall, a value, attractive, convenient, easy to understand or talk to, knew someone, and so forth.

You or your organization also had some type of exclusivity. You were the only one with a Boston accent, you were in the tallest building or had the lowest price, you knew someone who knew someone, and so forth.

The place where the Appeal and Exclusivity overlapped: the powerful 'Only-Factor,' is also the answer to all the questions above, including the answer to why should I choose you?

Not happy with recent events? Not getting where you want to go? Not having the sales success you think you deserve? Ask yourself the question that your prospective customers, employers, donors or dates are asking and that you ask yourself.

Once you've answered the question 'why should I choose you?' Tell them and you'll have a chance. If you don't know, and they don't know, you have no chance.

Fear is a powerful motivator. It gets us to wear seatbelts and masks, look both ways before crossing a street and look presentable on Zoom calls.

Several years ago, the first time I attempted a 10 mile run, I stood in my driveway and shivered because I was afraid. The feeling disappeared once I started running, but this past Sunday at 4:45 am as I drove to my Fenway course, I was surprised that I wasn't nervous about trying to run 18 miles. Maybe because I did 16 miles last week? Maybe because I've already run more than 400 miles this year? Maybe because I've done the work, as my trainer Sarah says?

On Sunday, and I still can't believe it, I ran 20 miles around Fenway Park as part of my Boston Marathon Virtual Edition Training Plan. Well, as I said, the plan actually called for 18 miles, but you know me. At 18 miles since I could still put one foot in front of the other, I went for the magic 2-0 and did it.

You have no idea how proud I was when I went into Loretta's Last Call during their Sunday Brunch to tell Myles, the Manager, I had done it and sit at the bar for a few minutes with a stiff soda water to reflect on the achievement.

If you had told me a year ago, or five years ago or ten years ago or twenty years ago, that I would run 20 miles, I wouldn't have believed you. But I did it, and they can't take it away.

It took me four hours and twenty two minutes and 35 laps around the outside of Fenway Park, but I did it.

So that was my long training day. This coming weekend was supposed to be 20 miles, but we'll see how much I have recovered from this long run.

The following weekend I taper down to 10 miles for a training run. October 10th is the day when 47 laps or 26.2 miles will be attempted.

The closer I get, the more I realize that this event will clarify once and for all, whether I am brave or stupid. It will be good to get that question answered.

After running 20 miles, however, it will be answered by a Sunday Morning Champion.

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