When some people hear the term unique selling proposition (USP), they think of your company tagline or tagline or something hackneyed. What many business owners don’t realize is that a good USP can make or break a business. It goes far beyond a few words in an ad.
To begin with, let’s understand what a USP is. A good Unique Selling Proposition should answer the question “Why should I do business with you now over any other available option?” Now think about that for a minute. If you can’t answer that question, and you own the business, why would a prospect even consider bringing your business to you?
However, it goes even deeper than that. A good USP will come from talking to your customers to find out what they want. You want to make sure your message matches your market. What good is it if you stand on the street corner offering people black umbrellas if everyone is looking for red ones? Oh, you may sell something because it’s there, you may see a small increase in sales if it’s raining, but what if you actually had exactly what your customer was looking for? The only way you can do this is to first know what your customer wants.
A Unique Selling Proposition must also be unique to your business. Do you know what your competitors are doing? What are they known for? Do something different, stand out. Once, a consulting client was working on his USP. They were a supplier of industrial parts. Once we went through the process of creating a USP, we discovered that a competitor had a large warehouse and high inventory levels – their USP was that they had everything you could possibly need. So we decided not to compete in stock. It turned out that what his customers were looking for could be boiled down to one word: reliability. This company had been in business for over 30 years, had a good reputation in their market, and we were able to take advantage of that. Customers wanted parts – the right parts, good quality parts, delivered on time. Once we figured that out, we had a place to work from.
As you begin the process of coming up with your USP, be prepared to make changes to your business to support it. See, a USP isn’t just something you say, it’s not even something you do, something you are. When you can become what your customers want, you win. In my example above, it would be pointless to claim the USP of Reliability if orders are shipped incomplete, late, or with defective parts. You have to be able to deliver on your USP. It becomes a point around which you can build your business. It must be reflected in your appearance, your presentation, your customer service, your salespeople, your post-sale follow-up, etc.
Find out what your market wants and deliver it consistently. Find something you can focus on that will set you apart from your competition and get your message across to your market. That alone can change your business.