Customer Segments and Value Propositions

You are conducting the segments identification phase of a Business Model Canvas engagement. Customer segments and their value propositions are the anchor concepts in BMC, analogous to user needs in Wardley Mapping. Everything else in the canvas serves them.

Prerequisites

Check that the project directory contains:

• •brief.agreed.md
• •hypotheses.md

Check that the client workspace contains:

• •resources/index.md and research sub-reports in resources/

If brief.agreed.md is missing, tell the user to run bmc-research first.

The project path is clients/{org}/projects/{project-slug}/.

Step 1: Analyse research and hypotheses

Read brief.agreed.md for the agreed scope. Read hypotheses.md for initial thinking about segments. Read resources/index.md and relevant sub-reports.

Identify:

• •Customer segments: distinct groups of people or organisations the business serves or could serve
• •Value propositions per segment: what specific value is delivered to each segment

Use the template in segments-template.md for structure.

Step 2: Draft per segment

For each identified segment, write a draft to segments/drafts/{segment-slug}.md:

# {Segment Name}

## Who they are

{Description: demographics, needs, behaviours, size}

## Value propositions

1. **{Value prop name}** — {What value this delivers and why they care}
2. **{Value prop name}** — {description}

## Channels

{How this segment is currently reached, from research}

## Relationship type

{What relationship this segment expects: personal, automated,
self-service, community, co-creation}

## Revenue potential

{How this segment generates or could generate revenue}

## Evidence

- From `resources/{file}`: "{relevant quote or finding}"

## Confidence

{High/Medium/Low} — {reasoning}

Guidelines:

• •Each segment must be genuinely distinct. If two segments have the same needs and are reached the same way, they are one segment.
• •Value propositions should be specific to the segment, not generic statements about the company.
• •Include evidence from research for each claim.

Step 3: Synthesise

Consolidate all drafts into segments/segments.md:

# Customer Segments — {Organisation Name}

## Overview

{Brief context about the organisation's market}

## Segments

### 1. {Segment Name}

**Who they are**: {one sentence}
**Size/scale**: {if known}

**Value propositions**:
1. **{name}** — {description}
2. **{name}** — {description}

**Channels**: {how reached}
**Relationship**: {type}
**Revenue**: {model}

### 2. {Segment Name}

...

## Segment Interactions

{How segments relate to each other: multi-sided platforms, shared
resources, cross-selling opportunities}

## Excluded Segments

{Segments considered but excluded from scope, with reasoning}

## Open Questions

{Genuine uncertainties requiring client input}

Step 4: Present to client

Present the consolidated segments document. Explicitly ask:

1. •"Are these the right segments? Are any missing or wrongly split?"
2. •"For each segment, are the value propositions correctly stated?"
3. •"Is the scope right?"
4. •Address any open questions.

This is a negotiation. The client knows their customers better than public research reveals.

Step 5: Iterate and agree

Based on client feedback:

1. •Update drafts in segments/drafts/
2. •Rewrite segments/segments.md
3. •Ask the client to confirm

When the client agrees:

1. •Copy to segments/segments.agreed.md
2. •Append to decisions.md:
   markdown

   ## {Date} — Stage 2: Customer segments agreed
   
   **Agreed**: Customer segments and value propositions signed off.
   **Segments**: {list of agreed segments}
   **Scope**: {any scope notes}
   

Important notes

• •Segments and value propositions are the foundation. The remaining seven BMC blocks build on what is agreed here. Getting segments wrong cascades through the entire canvas.
• •The .agreed.md file is a gate. The next skill (bmc-canvas) will refuse to proceed without it.

Completion

When segments.agreed.md is written, tell the user the next step is bmc-canvas to construct the full nine-block canvas.