What is a Unique Selling Proposition?
“NO ONE BUYS FROM YOU BECAUSE YOU ARE AS GOOD AS THE REST… YOU *MUST* STAND OUT.”
What is a Unique Selling Proposition?
This is a question that many business owners have, and it is a fundamental concept to understand. A unique selling proposition, or USP, is what makes your company different from all the others. It sets you apart from the competition and makes customers want to do business with YOU. This blog post will discuss a USP and how it can benefit your business.
A USP is a statement that describes what makes your company unique. It can be a slogan, a mission statement, or simply a sentence or two explaining why customers should do business with you.
Your USP should be true about your company and that you can back up with evidence. It should be something that sets you apart from your competition and makes you the obvious choice for customers.
For example: “We deliver pizzas fast”. Ummm — I don’t think so! How about, “Fresh, hot pizza delivered to your door in 30 minutes or less — or it's free!” That one gave Domino’s incredible success and completely transformed the pizza industry.
• A bike store might offer free lessons once a month.
• A skin-cream might be the only totally organic product. When other organic creams come on market, the USP might add “locally grown”.
In most of your marketing, you should lead with the BENEFITS of your product/service. But a USP does not have to lead with benefits. A USP can be about benefits or features or both. It can be about:
• A completely unique product
• The effect it will have
• Exclusivity
• Consistency
• Price (low, or high)
• Store hours
• Quality
• Variety of options
• Guarantee
• Follow-up
• Who it’s endorsed by
And many, many other possibilities.
You MUST develop and present a brief, inspiring, exciting message that can be said in a few words, and that, even in those few words, is still informative, inspiring and captivating.
(Don’t even think about using anything that looks like, “We have great products, give good service and are reliable”. That is not a USP. EVERYONE provides that — or says they do!)
This capsule message will be in many locations on your website. It may be at the top of every page under your title. It is taken in and absorbed as the crystallization of your identity. You will immediately and enormously strengthen your identity and bonding with every prospect and current client.
You will give every prospect an exciting and compelling reason to deal with you — one that they can IMMEDIATELY and DEEPLY understand and take in. And you give every person a ‘sound-bite’ sized, compelling summary of your company that they can pass on.
And if you have staff, they must ALL be on board with this. It might be used on answering the phone. It can come into the conversation. It needs to be on every piece of paper produced by your company.
The question is - do you have a unique selling proposition? What is it? Share in the comments below!
And if you need help creating a USP for your business, contact us today. We can help you develop a USP that will benefit your business and help you attract and retain customers.
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