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Having Trouble Understanding What Makes Your Business Different? Here's
A Simple Exercise That Helps
One of the keys to
successful marketing is identifying what makes your business unique and
letting everybody know about it. This helps your prospects to understand
why they should buy from you rather than your competition. When used
successfully, it makes your product or services the obvious choice. This
is often called a USP or Unique Selling Proposition.
The best USPs consist of
unique concepts that set your business favorably apart from the
competition. When you do this, you effectively make the prospective
customer a promise that you do things a certain way, and get specific
results. Therefore, it’s vitally important that you never use a USP that
you can’t honestly fulfill.
Companies who employ USPs
have a basis for competing in the marketplace that goes way beyond
price. And, since there always seems to be someone who can do it
cheaper, it puts your business into a different league.
Surprisingly enough, there
are many companies that don’t have USPs. Sometimes they manage to exist;
but often they lose steam and fail. For marketing that really packs a
punch and for those of you who hate selling a USP is one of the things
that will help to convince prospective customers to buy.
Here’s a simple exercise to
help you identify your USP:
1. Gather together a couple
of people from your team, or who know something about your business.
2. Put yourselves in the
shoes of others in your industry, especially your prospective customers.
3. Pinpoint the types of
things these others might say about the products, services and companies
in your industry. Don’t holdback - include stereotypes and globalisms –
sometimes even funny ones will help.
4. Make a long list.
5. Step back into your own
shoes.
6. Now, read your list.
What makes YOU or your company different, REALLY different?
7. Select the most
compelling ones that you honestly come by and incorporate them into your
marketing program.
Some ways to use your USP:
• Sound-bites or elevator
speeches
• Marketing messages
• Brochures
• Value Propositions
• Advertising
• Press Releases
• Proposals
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Susan Martin,
professional business and marketing coach based in NYC, created
Business Sanity to help business owners, executives and independent
professionals who struggle with marketing, management and
productivity; want to increase profits, avoid burnout and run their
business most effectively. To find out how you can make more money
with less effort and stress; visit Susan on the web at
http://www.business-sanity.com/marketing_strategies.html
and subscribe to Business Sanity Tips or schedule your free
consultation.
© 2004-2007, Susan Martin, Business Sanity.
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