Elevate your company to a position of notable superiority over your competition
In order to stand above the crowded marketplace, you or your company must offer your prospect or client a unique and distinctive benefit or advantage above and beyond that of your competitor. If you don’t, people have no motivation to do business with you instead of your competition. You must identify and understand what it is you or your company do or can start doing for your clients that provide them with a result or an advantage superior to the competition. This is called the Unique Selling Proposition (USP).It’s not about selling, it’s simply about differentiation. Your unique selling proposition is what makes your business stand out. It’s what makes you different and earns you a special place in the minds of your potential customers. Before you can begin to sell your product or service to anyone else, you have to sell yourself on it. This is especially important when your product or service is similar to those around you. Unless you can pinpoint what makes your business unique in a world of homogeneous competitors, you cannot target your sales efforts successfully.Remember, price is never the only reason people buy. If your competition is beating you on pricing because they are larger, you have to find another sales feature that addresses the customer’s needs and then build your sales and promotional efforts around that feature.A business can create its USP on product characteristics, price structure, placement strategy (location and distribution) or promotional strategy. These are what marketers call the “four P’s” of marketing. They are manipulated to give a business a market position that sets it apart from the competition. It’s no surprise that most businesses lacking a USP merely get by. Their failure rate is high. Their owners and employees are apathetic. And they get only a small share of potential business.Let me ask you this question do you know how you are different than your competitors? Don’t worry if you are not able to find the answer of this question. Here’s how to uncover your USP and use it to power up your sales. Here’s how to uncover your USP and use it to power up your sales:
Uncover real needs that are unfulfilled within your industry
1) A broad selection.
2) Big discounts.
3) Advice and assistance.
4) Convenience (i.e. location, fully stocked shelves, immediate delivery).
5) Top-of-the-line products or services.
6) Speedy service.
7) Services above and beyond the basics.
8) A longer and more comprehensive warranty or guarantee than the norm.
9) Any other distinct advantage.
The point is to focus on the one niche, need, or gap that is most surely lacking – provided you can keep the promise you make. You can even create hybrid USPs – combinations that integrate one marketing gap with another. Before you decide on a USP, be sure you can always deliver that USP through your whole organization. You and/or your staff must consistently maintain high levels of quality or service.
BE CLEAR AND TO THE POINT
The USP is the nucleus around which you build your success, fame, and wealth. So you’d better be able to state it. If you can’t state it, your prospects won’t see it. Whenever a client needs the type of product or service you sell, your USP should bring you or your company immediately to mind. Clearly conveying the USP through your marketing and business performance will make business success inevitable. But you must boil down your USP to its bare essence.
FINDING YOUR NICHE… OR NICHES
You will not appeal to everybody. In fact, certain USPs are designed to appeal to only one segment of a market. There is a vast gulf between the upscale clients and the bargain seekers, and you probably can’t reach them both. Which do you want to stake out as your market niche? Also, analyze the market potential of various USP positions in terms of volume, profits, and repeat business. Your USP must not only fill a market void, but also result in adequate volume, clients, action, and profit to suit your psychological and financial needs.
ALIGN ALL YOUR EFFORTS TO YOUR USP
If your USP is giving advice, assistance, and superior service, it can’t stop with mere sales rhetoric. It must become total company conduct. If someone calls in with a question, the people answering the call must extend themselves. You and your employees must live, breathe, and act your USP at all times. All your in-store clerks, telephone staff, receptionists, client-service people – everyone with any public contact or client interaction, or anyone who impacts your business – must fully understand, embrace, and believe in your USP.Talk to your staff, write scripts, hold contests, and reward people who distinguish themselves in promoting your USP. Set an example so your staff can see the USP in action.
EXTEND YOUR USP
A USP can come in the form of an occasional special offer. Every human wants to feel appreciated and personally acknowledged. By offering your clients genuine, specially priced deals or first choice, you endear yourself to them. At the same time, you enhance your clients’ perception of your on-going USP. E.g If your USP is service, your preferred promotions will be service-based rather than price-based. The bottom line is this: develop a USP and extol it in everything you do. It can put you head and shoulders above your competition forever.
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