Do you know what your Unique Selling Proposition (USP) is? In my Web Business and Social Media Consulting practice I’ve been working with new clients this week. I continue to be amazed at the number of Entrepreneurs who can not answer the question: What is Your USP? Or the question: Why should someone buy from you and only from you?
Your USP should tell the world who you are and what you do. It should articulate clearly and concisely what benefit a prospect will derive from doing business with you instead of your competitors.
Your USP is the fundamental basis of your entire business concept: it is that unique advantage (or advantages) that should distinguish your business from all your competitors. You should be able to articulate your USP clearly in 60 seconds or less (but it’s not to be confused with your “Elevator Pitch”… Astonishingly, most companies couldn’t begin to clearly explain their USP at all, and if you can’t articulate it, it’s highly unlikely that your customers and prospects will be able to understand it.
How and why should you create a compelling USP?
HOW: Here are the 3 Steps to determine what your USP is:
1) Determine what your customers want (Ask them)
2) Find out which of these needs you can and do fill
3) Find a way to clearly state to your customers that you are the source to fill those needs
The result is your USP.
WHY: I know from experience that USP’s take time to develop and crystallize. I’ve also found that the best USP’s bubble up during a brainstorming session when you don’t evaluate ideas as they are offered.
But, your USP must also be written from the What’s In It For Me (WIIFM) perspective of your customers and must use their language for what you do, not yours. That is especially true for most Internet Merchants, because to succeed online you must get in front of demand that already exists.
Most companies try to be everything to everyone, and they can’t understand why they don’t have any unique advantage-why they can’t really take off ahead of their competitors. The fact of the matter is, when you try to be everything to everyone, you wind up being nothing to anyone. You spread yourself so thin that your message becomes too diluted. It ceases to have meaning. It has been proven time and time again that you can make more money when your “niche” is an inch wide, but a mile deep…
So focus on, what makes you unique and different?
The problem is the most business owners have never sat down and really asked these 3 questions:
What distinguishes my company from my competitors?
Am I more expensive, less expensive?
Do I offer more service, give better value, give a better guarantee?
What makes me different?
What makes me unique?
To say that your USP is important is a gross understatement.
Your USP is not just important-it’s critical to the success of your business.
In my opinion, “you can’t build a successful small business without knowing your USP”!
What is your USP? Please post your USP as a comment to this blog…
Dave Westfal, MBA is an experienced Webmaster, Project Manager, Marketing Consultant and Certified Mastermind Business Coach with DewPointe Ventures LLC. His areas of expertise include building WordPress Blogsites and full eCommerce Lead Capture Websites, Information Product Launches, Internet Marketing including Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Search Engine Marketing (SEM) or Pay Per Click (PPC) Advertising campaigns and developing proven Social Media Optimization (SMO) viral marketing strategies that work to help you grow and transform your business by turning your Sales Paradigm upside down.
Please visit our website at www.TheSmallBusinessAccelerator.com to find out how you grow your Small Business.
All the best,
By Dave Westfall
Certified Mastermind Business Coach, Author and Speaker
email: info@dewpointe.com
P.S. Please click on this link now to schedule your FREE 30 Minute Consultation.
Do you mind if I add part of this post on my blog and then link to yours in detail? I do find a lot of business owners just want traffic as tend to think that’s the cheapest and fastest way to generate sales. A lot of them cannot see the benefits of going through the hoop to get a site (like you say) to be compelling and want to spend as little as possible. In this instance I can rely on my portfolio to show them that suggestions such as yours DO work but it takes time and a financial investment. I think that’s why it pays to pick your clients carefully. Gonna add your blog to my blog roll. Hope that’s ok! Daz
Learning a ton from these neat articles.
I’m not sure where you’re getting your information, but good topic. I need to spend some time learning much more or understanding more. Thanks for the wonderful information. I was looking for this information for my mission statement.