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Copyright Professional Performance Specialists 2010 1
Developing Your Unique Selling Proposition (USP)
By John Davie, Professional Performance Specialists
And Bevan Rigato, BeWrite Professional Writing & Marketing Services
People are bombarded with thousands of messages, promotions and various marketing materials
every day. If you want people to take notice of you, then it’s essential that you stand out and
remain Top-Of-Mind in the minds of your target market. People are looking for a business that
either solves a frustration or satisfies a desire.
It is absolutely essential, even critical, to truly differentiate your business in the eyes of your
potential customers. Know your market and what people are really looking for, and understand
how your business can meet their needs.
People Buy Difference
When people buy from you, they’re actually buying the difference they perceive about your
business. Consider the differences your customers perceive about your business that makes them
want to buy from you rather than your competitors. To conquer your target market you must
differentiate yourself.
Your USP makes it easier for customers to choose you rather than the many other options that are
available. Outlining your unique differences helps a customer feel more confident about their
decision to choose you. Establish your USPs and then actively apply them to all communications
(internal and external) for your business. Once you have created and cemented your USP into your
business, it will become the core of all communications to your target market. Promote those
differences in all your marketing and advertising, be bold and let the market know why they should
choose your business over anyone else’s.
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Unique Selling Propositions are:
The Points of Difference that set you apart from your competition.
The ‘uniqueness’ about your product or service.
The things that compel people to buy from you instead of your competitors.
Focused on the buying motivators of your target market, their hot buttons, buying concerns,
or their key frustrations or problems they want solved.
Helping customers to easily identify why they should choose you over competitors.
Making the purchase decision easy for your customers.
Your USP should permeate every facet of your operations. It should determine how your team
members present themselves, the way you deal with your customers and the way your business
itself is presented. Virtually every area of your business must fulfil that differentiation presented by
your USP.
Create a Business That Stands Out
Once you start to embed your USP throughout your business, you need to ensure that you can
deliver on it. Create a business that stands out from the rest of your industry, know your target
market’s buying motives then aim to supersede them!
Don’t fall into the trap that most ‘Small Medium Sized Enterprises (SME)’ fall into, which is to be
under the false illusion that because they have opened for business, people will buy from them
simply because they’re there.
“Hey look at us, we’re over here, come buy from us!” This doesn’t give your potential customers a
compelling reason to buy from you. Remember, there are a myriad of direct and indirect
competitors all vying for your business.
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Market Benefits, Not Features
Many SME’s make the mistake of marketing and promoting their products based on price, or the
features of their products and services, rather than the benefits their potential clients would
receive.
Market research has shown that only 15% of the market shop on price alone.
If you don’t clarify your USP and spell out the direct benefits of dealing with your business, you’ll
miss out on the largest and most important sector of your market.
Some points to think about as they relate to your business.
What are you selling?
Who are you targeting?
How are you planning to get the message to them?
How are you going to deliver your service?
Do you sell a raw product or do you provide the benefit that this product provides?
Do you sell services or the benefits of those services?
What is it that you want to be known for that differentiates you from your competitors?
What points of difference can you highlight as being desirable for your target market?
What is it you can be ‘Best in Class’ at?
What proof do you have that substantiates your uniqueness?
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Know Your Target Market
The foundation for your USP must come from a real understanding of the people to whom you are
sending your message, with the aim of influencing them to use your service. Here are a couple of
ways you can develop that understanding.
Think like your clients: Step outside of your day-to-day role as the business owner or senior
manager and think about what your clients really want from you. What is it that makes them
come back again and again? It might be the quality of your service, convenience, or perhaps
it is your friendliness, exceptional customer service and listening skills or reliability. Or, it
maybe that they perceive you as solving their problems using a ‘Best in Class’ service.
Learn what motivates your customer’s decisions: Learn what drives and motivates those
who would use your service or refer people to it. Having some knowledge of the
demographics of your target market is essential to effective business, but just as importantly
you must learn how they tend to derive gratification in life and what their purchase
preferences are. People use products and services primarily based on their desires, not on
their needs. Knowing these desires and motivations will help in forming your true Unique
Selling Proposition.
Know the real reasons customers come to you instead of your competition: How do you do
that? Ask your best source of information: your customers. This can be done in a number of
ways including face-to-face conversations, surveys or focus groups. Every business lends
itself to certain methods of deriving this information, but the fundamental truth is that you
can never know too much about your market!
The last step is to be as objective as possible in determining what features of your business stand
out: What is it that sets you apart from the pack?
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Three Types Of USPs
There are three different kinds of USPs to differentiate your business from your competitors.
1. Actual USP: Something that is genuinely unique about your business, the products, or services
you provide.
2. Created USP: You create a point of difference between your business and your competitors. You
define and focus on what makes you stand out in the eyes of your customers to either solve a
customer frustration or problem, giving them a compelling reason to buy from you.
3. Perceived USP: You may not have anything in your business that’s totally unique. But if you’re
the first one to articulate a difference (even though others do the same), you’ll stand out in the
marketplace. You may simply articulate what you do better than your competitors,
differentiating your business in the minds of your customers as a perceived point of difference.
Perception Is Reality
Don’t be afraid to tell your potential customers exactly why you are unique and why they should
buy from you. People like to buy difference as long as it is a perceived benefit to them. But
remember, you need to live up to your promises so it’s important that any claims you make are
completely adhered to. This is what makes the USP work for your business.
A powerful USP is typically tied into the most emotionally stimulating elements of your customers’
experience with your business. So how do you capture this in a short phrase that touches on the
emotional gratification promised by your service? Follow these seven guidelines:
1. Keep it short.
2. Paint a picture within the imagination of your reader.
3. Convey a positive feeling.
4. Give it impact and emotion.
5. Avoid defining your service as a commodity.
6. Focus on the promise of emotional gratification – the result or benefit – not the work or
features you offer.
7. Make it consistent with the general perception of your business and what you have learned
of your customer’s gratification mode and purchase preferences.
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Evolve your USPs To Grow With Your Business
Businesses often develop new USPs as they grow and evolve. The more you learn about your
customers and what constitutes your promise of emotional gratification, the clearer your
understanding of what an effective Unique Selling Proposition will be. Ultimately, the real acid test
is to ask yourself:
What emotion am I selling?
Does it accurately portray what my business does?
Does it create an image beyond those of the competition?
Is it desirable to my target market?
Development Help
To assist with developing your USP you may want to sit down with someone outside of your
business who can provide a fresh insight. Get them to interview you to help ascertain what
compelling USP you can create which you can commit to with energy, excitement and enthusiasm.
Allow this to permeate throughout every aspect of your business.
If you are not enthusiastic about your business, how can you expect your staff to be? If you are not
excited about what you are providing how can you expect your customers to be excited about what
you offer? Consider the following questions:
“Why do people buy from me?”
‘What is Unique about your business and what you provide?
Why, do you do the things that you do in the way that you do them?’
‘What separates my company from my competitors?
Write a list of all the reasons why people buy from you.
Ask your team members to write a list of the reasons why they think people buy from you.
Call some of your clients and ask them why they specifically decided to buy from you and
what differences they noticed, if any, between you and your competitors at that time.
Take action by starting the process of developing your Unique Selling Points and dominate your market by
putting yourself in the driving seat.
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About Professional Performance Specialists
PPS was developed through the merger of U.K based Retail Performance Specialists (RPS) and Davie
Consultancy in Sydney Australia. RPS is one of the world’s foremost service and retail performance
consultancies, providing solutions to the world’s leading retailers for nearly 30 years. Since their
formation they have worked with over 400,000 individual retail staff and thousands of retailers on 5
continents to deliver proven strategies and systems to increase sales, service and business
performance.
PPS CEO John Davie has extensive expertise in business consulting and development in multiple
areas. After several years of researching and studying elite health professional practices worldwide
and using his experience from the lessons learned as an international athlete, John managed to
create New Zealand’s largest physiotherapy practice in just 3 years (according to the New Zealand
government compulsory insurance scheme ACC, this practice was more than twice the size of the
next largest).
PPS has developed world-class health professional and physiotherapy specific systems,
methodologies and processes which have been proven to improve the performance of these
specialised businesses. Their methodologies are based on almost 30 years working with some of the
most successful global health and service businesses.
John Davie (CEO)
Ph: (+61) 0413 570 938 Office: 1300 978 082
Email: [email protected]
Web: www.pps-global.com
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About BeWrite Professional Writing & Marketing Services
BeWrite have been providing high-quality and high-value copywriting and marketing services to
small and medium business clients for over six years. Bevan Rigato started the business with one
focus, and that was to help businesses get great customised professional writing and marketing
services which would let business owners stay focused on doing the things that their business is
great at.
Each BeWrite consultant and preferred partner are highly experienced at their area of specialisation
enabling them to quickly understand what the client business does and what that specific business
needs. BeWrite specialists will work with you to clearly understand where your business is now, and
where you want to go in order to deliver the perfect copywriting and / or marketing solution to
match your goals.
Bevan Rigato
Ph: 1300 032383
Email: [email protected]
Web: www.bewrite.com.au