The Foundation Of Your Success Is Built On Your Unique Selling Proposition – What is Yours?
Something that Strictly Business has always focused on, especially when discussing our marketing/sales strategy, is our Unique Selling Proposition (USP). We believe that there is very little that’s more critical than defining your company’s unique selling position in the marketplace and setting yourself apart from your competition with a USP. That is why I am taking this month to ask our readers who are a part of a business or organization, what is your USP? This is the first part of a four-part USP series we have planned.
If the USP concept is new to you, then we’ll start by breaking it down. To help us do this, we referenced Micheal Senoff’s USP Magic System Tools transcript.
According to Senoff, “in order to create a powerful USP, you have to know what one looks like first. You might even need to change the way you think about marketing because Unique Selling Propositions have nothing to do with advertising. They’re not branding or finding a slogan either. They involve uncovering the hidden assets a business has in order to highlight what makes them different from their competition.”
William Bodri, author of How to Write A Million Dollar USP, agrees that one must create a USP for their business, products, and services. Creating a USP is fundamental to a solid marketing plan. It should be part of your overall company’s business plan and strategy. I know how sometimes strategic plans can get put to the wayside as we are always pulled into the trenches of the work we do, but your USP is the words you use to connect with your client most directly. It is your five-second elevator pitch on what makes you different and why someone would want to do business with you.
In order to create yours, ask yourself the basic questions, like: What products or services am I selling? Who is my target audience? What does my business do well?
According to Bodri, “simply put, a USP is a:
(1) unique claim or promise of benefits about your product or service,
(2) that’s distinctly different from your competitors, and
(3) is so strong and attractive that it motivates them to do business with you rather than all the other alternatives available.
Basically, your USP is a distinct, compelling difference that separates you from all your competitors and answers the question, ‘Why should I do business with you rather than your competitors…or rather than doing nothing at all?’
Rosser Reeves, who originally formulated the concept of the USP when the philosophical basis behind advertising wasn’t as clearly defined as it is today, said that an advertising USP has three distinct parts:
- Each advertisement must make a proposition to the consumer. Not just words, not just product puffery, not just show-window advertising. Each advertisement must say to each reader: “Buy this product, and you will get this specific benefit.”
- The proposition must be one that the competitor either cannot, or does not offer. It must be unique—either a uniqueness of the brand or a claim not otherwise made in that particular field of advertising.
- The proposition must be so strong that it can move the mass millions, i.e. pull over new customers to your product.”
So, after reading this, what is your business/organization’s USP? If you need help developing yours, you can access over 297 hours of FREE downloadable mp3 audio interviews on sales, marketing and business success experts online at www.hardtofindseminars.com. Michael Senoff has spent over a decade of his life creating fascinating streaming audio interviews with big-name marketers and getting them to spill the beans on how they got rich and famous and he’s offering his life’s work at www.hardtofindseminars.com.
Let Strictly Business Magazine help you lock in your status as The Expert in your industry, utilizing print, the internet and social media. Find out how by contacting Paige at (402) 466-3330.