USP - Got one? Two? Three?
by Scott Sedwick

What they are, how they work, plus why they work! If you have competitors, then you should have at least one UniqueSelling Proposition (USP).  The more REAL ones you have, the better - foryour Branding, your business recognition,  yourreferrals, and your sales!

We all have competitors, and the more you have, the moreimportant it is that you have a Unique Selling Proposition (at least one).

Allow me to explain.  Let's use a recent example of acompany that sells laser toner cartridges... Do you think they have competitiononline?  You bet they do, another category thatis swamped with resellers.  Sound like yours?

The task of coming up with a USP can sometimes betough.  But every company needs to do this,it sets you apart from your competitors.  Let me stress this again, itis one or more reasons why prospects should work with you, or buy from you, ordo business with you, instead of your competitors, period.

Let me narrow this a little further, it used to be if youhad the best price, - you got the business.  Although still a minor USP,price alone should not be the only consideration, it'snot really that unique...  Yes, you still need to be competitive, but Idon't want to be the cheapest guy... we're in this to make a profit,right?  So don't make price your 'only' USP.  Combine it with morevalue, something your competition doesn't do, or doesn't offer.

O.K., back to our example.  This company needed more thanprice, their product pricing is right inline with everyone else, so nowwhat? 

First of all, you need to know what your competitorsdo offer.  This is not a new concept.  You can't compete if you don'tknow what you're up against.  So take a little time and check out whatthey have.  Do some research, you'd be surprised what you might find - ornot.  Special offers, free shipping, a contest, great customersupport? 

Take a step back, imagine you are the customer and you do buytoner from someone a few times a year.  If they do not get great serviceor it's just average, then chances are you can sway them your way.  Thisreferences "customer loyalty" another chapter, but it follows firstgetting the customer.  So, let's get the prospect as a customerfirst.  Let's show that customer why we're better, faster, leaner, nicer,better quality, - whatever!  But "we" don't want to be cheaper,even though some companies may - that's no longer a unique sellingproposition.  Start thinking...

Now, what do we do to sway these prospects?  Weoffer them what the competition doesn't.  This can be discovered withyour competitive research.  Oh, and if you still haven't found a USP or afew - then Hyperformance Media can help you with thisas well.

Write down every idea that you and your team come upwith.  Please don't worry about how silly they might seem (at the time),just brainstorm with the data you have gained.  The reason I say toinclude the silly ones, and others is because sometimesthose little ideas that you laughed at can actually be morphed to create yourUSP.  No idea is too far fetched at this point, and usually the ideas youlaughed at are, in fact, some things your competitors don't offer.  That'swhere we go next.

On the toner company we came up with all kinds, some werealready offered by competitors, some were not.   The idea is toinitially come up with as many as possible.  Here are some of what wenarrowed the field to (we started with about two dozen);

Price (ofcourse)
Free Shipping (varied by quantity/price)
Great Customer Service (so everyone says)
A Contest / Promotion (a what?)
Free Gifts (vary)
Referral Savings (with parameters)
Reminders? (to buy)

The next step is again to nail down our list, get creative, really think here.  This alone still makes us morecompetitive (once implemented), even if others use the same approach. Why?  Because before we did this, there was a ton of competition, and aswe add these USP's we now narrow the list of our'real' competitors.  We are now more competitive within ourindustry, because we now offer things that (most) of our competitors donot!  We are getting more competitive immediately by implementing somesimple offerings. 

Let's take each one in this example and see how we can useit or discard it to our advantage.

Price -Still very important in any market, but very tied tocustomer value (or perceived value).  If your product or service is notcompeting here - it does not necessarily rule you out, more on thislater.  However, this is usually where a shopper starts (because it'seasy), and you want to be considered with this group.  In this example, weagreed that (based on our research) we were in the market on price.  Soour price is competitive and that's great, but not unique enough to get thebusiness.

Free Shipping - In our research, we found that most of thecompany's who were offering this service were just a couple dollars higher inprice (covering their "free" offer).   So while it may havesome perceived value, it was not enough for this company to offer that, so wediscarded this one.  If however, your costs are such that you can ship forfree and still be competitive and profitable, this is a worthwhile USP.

Great Customer Service - This is stated everywhere, makingit tough for the consumer to know what is reality.  It is hard to judgeuntil you are a customer.  It would be more valuable to offer testimonialsof Great Customer Satisfaction.  Not Customer Service, but CustomerSatisfaction.  There is a big difference here.  So we DO want to takesome of our really satisfied customers and put together, or request theirtestimonials.  This is much more powerful than the words or promise of"Great Customer Service".  So we will use this, but focusing onsatisfaction with testimonials in our advertising pieces and website, etc.

A Contest/Promotion - This covers a broad area, but canbe extremely successful when implemented and marketed properly, so becreative and if possible, develop one for your business, product orservice.  After our discussions, and research, we have begun developingthis idea.  Example: Every time you buy from us, you get another chance atwinning "Free Toner for a Year".  I know you're saying... freetoner for a year - what are you crazy?  Bear with me on this... first ofall, most of their customers use 4 to 6 toners in normal use in one year (Inour contest, we can actually cap that in our rules, i.e., "Not to exceed 6cartridges".  So we associate our costs to that, which does notmake this a cost prohibitive program at all, depending upon the programsuccess.   Again, the mileage and customers we gain from our contestis potentially huge, and if it works well, we continue it... at a maximum costof 6 toners per year for a Grand Prize.

Free Gifts - Don't discount this one, many people grab hold of these'offers' to feel like they are making out.  All else being the same, thecustomer does get something for nothing.  Now, if the item truly has novalue, then the customer has little to no interest.  And, it actually'cheapens' the image of your firm (be careful).  We decided with ourproducts and business customer profile, this would not work for thisbusiness.  But it could work for you or your products.

Referral Programs - Another potential attraction(savings) for your customer.  I say potential because this type ofreferral program, like price, should not be the only USP.  Whenused in conjunction with others, this can steadily grow your business (sales)as well.  You need to develop a program that somehow rewardsreferrals.  For example, it can be something simple like "Refer acustomer to our business and when we ship their order you will receive oraccrue credits, dollars, points, or 5% off your next order".  Get theidea?  The key is to make it of value, and still keep it costeffective. 

Reminders - This was it!  The big one, it was unique, it hasvalue to the customer, and it reinforces our Customer Satisfaction!  Thiswas also laughed at when first mentioned.  So? What was the plan?  We acquire a software program (our recommendation Mailloop™ Software) that can be set toautomatically e-mail each customer based on their own usage when their tonerand supplies were potentially running low (i.e., 30 or 90 days or any date wechoose.  Once set-up it is all automated (cost effective)!  It alsogave us their e-mail address (important anytime) and with our reminders wecould include any special or seasonal offers that might further attract moresales.

So, what did this company find?  In a nutshell - Theirproducts are priced well to compete.  In this case, we discarded freeshipping as not really cost effective.  We stressed Satisfied Customers inall of our marketing materials with testimonials and real-life examples. We are also developing a contest to further set us apart from ourcompetitors.  We could not find a free gift we thought would add any valueto the customer (but continue to look).  They are considering a ReferralProgram as well. 

The real USP in combination with the others was our uniqueE-mail Reminder System.  At that time, no other competitor was offeringanything like this!  This IS a Unique Selling Proposition and was perfectfor our example.  Put all these together, and this company has numerous'edges' on their competition.  Once customers are aware of thesedifferences that set you apart from all the rest - growth is almostcertain!  That company is in a much better position to 'own' their marketonline, or at a minimum increase their market share.  The more you get theword out, the more you're sure to benefit from these type ideas.

I understand this was a pretty broad example but you shouldget the idea.  You won't always come up with an idea that no competitorhas or offers, but if only 3-6 competitors offer that same USP, you are stillin the top tier of your competition instead of lost somewhere un-noticed whilebuyers continue to purchase through your competition.  You decide.

Whew! That was a long explanation - .

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