Tag: Proposition

How to Find Your Unique Selling Proposition

A ‘Unique Selling Proposition’ (USP) is something that many businesses have but it would be true to say that most don’t know they have one. When you follow the simple steps in this article, you’ll be able to identify your USP and will probably find that you have more than one. Without a clear USP then your ability to focus on your market, conserve advertising and promotion dollars and, most importantly, write your Business Plan, is almost non-existent.

You may have heard about a thing called your ‘Differential’, as well as other things, your USP describes the difference between your business and your competition.

A Business Plan without a USP is like a ship without a rudder

It is extremely important that you should include your USP in your Business or Marketing Plan, you can be sure that if you are looking for funding or a bank loan, the providers of the cash are going to want to know what sets you apart from your competition and it had better be good.

Example: Bakery & Coffee Bar

Let’s say you decide to open a Bakery and Coffee Bar. There is some close existing competition and so you do some research and find out the following:

What the competition does

  1. They open at 7 a.m. and close around 4.30 p.m
  2. They offer a range of coffees and tea
  3. They offer freshly prepared sandwiches and rolls
  4. They offer a special order facility for birthday cakes

What they don’t do

  1. They don’t offer today’s newspapers
  2. They don’t offer an email your order service
  3. They don’t offer office catering for special presentations etc.
  4. They don’t donate left over stock to a food bank or similar

Your opportunity is to do what they don’t do and in the process establish your ‘Unique Selling Propositions’

Here’s what you do (You can still do the things your competition does as well if you choose to…

  1. Open at 6 a.m. for early morning passing traffic and close at 6 p.m. to service customers on their way home from work
  2. Offer 3 copies of each of today’s newspapers
  3. Offer an email your order service
  4. Offer office catering
  5. Donate left over stock to local charities/food banks

The list can go on from here but the advice would be, don’t do it all at once. You’ll find a competitor matrix very useful in this process. 

Once you have defined what your USP is, you need to set about creating some words and maybe images around each USP that you define.

Basic rules for a USP:

  • It must be something that you know is true and you believe in it
  • It should create some form of emotion in the reader
  • It must communicate instantly just what the USP is about
  • It should be specific
  • It should be concise
  • It should have real meaning
  • An important note A Unique Selling Proposition’ does not mean a ‘Permanent Unique Selling Proposition!’ Always have something up your sleeve to offer your customers and that way you will have the leaders advantage and have something to release in response to a competitors latest move.

Marketing Strategy Plan: What’s Your Unique Selling Proposition?

Every business must have a marketing strategy plan. The success of every business, whether online or offline, depends on business planning. Experts have shown that strategic planning in marketing is the key to improving efficiency and effectiveness in business. Business owners are advised to always present unique selling propositions. Deep insights in marketing are necessary for reasonable propositions.

Unique Selling Proposition and Its Benefits

A unique selling proposition (USP) can best be described as a marketing idea that differentiates one businesses product or service from its competition by way of a benefit or way of doing business. Your USP will convince the potential buyer from doing business with you because your proposition is seen as much more valuable as compared to your competition. Here are three famous USP examples:

“You get fresh, hot pizza delivered to your door in 30 minutes or less – or it’s free.” Domino’s Pizza

“The ultimate driving machine” BMW

“The milk chocolate melts in your mouth, not in your hand” M&Ms

Furthermore, a USP helps greatly in product marketing strategy. Every seller must be able to identify the company’s unique selling proposition. You do not sell what you do not know. You will be able to provide answers to any question asked by the buyer and thus convince the buyer to buy even more.

How do you know your USP?

1. Consider yourself to be a buyer.

The USP must be unique indeed. It ought to be an addition to the benefits that are obtainable in your industry. The consumer market research should be critically conducted. This will reveal the needs of the consumers and it’s the tool that will be used to uncover the USP. Having understood the needs of the consumer, the solutions to the needs are then made unique in such a way that it is completely different from those of the competitors.

2. Determine customers’ motivating buying factor.

You can get to know this by a simple questionnaire or by short interviews of your customer. Most customers will provide genuine answers as per what gives them the drive to purchase your products. This is very essential.

3. Determine reasons why consumers prefer your products and services.

The best source of getting feedback is through your customers. They provide you with the information you need to know about the reasons why your services or products are distinct and preferred to others in your industry. Some of your customers will even suggest how you can improve your services.

Ensure that your selling propositions are convincing enough to persuade customers to use your products and services. Also ensure that you retain your customers while you increase your customer database.

Exit mobile version