Do you have a memorable positioning statement that sets you apart from your competitors by highlighting a benefit or advantage prospects get when they do business with you? This statement is what is known as a unique selling proposition or USP.
Unique Selling Proposition Examples
Some of the most famous USPs you’ve probably heard include Domino’s Pizza’s “Fresh hot pizza delivered in 30 minutes or it’s free.” Or Geico’s “15 minutes will save you 15% or more on car insurance.” Or FedEx’s “When it absolutely, positively has to be there overnight.”
These statements aren’t just catchy taglines or slogans. They aren’t like McDonald’s “I’m loving it” or Nike’s “Just do it” that are virtually meaningless without the context of advertising to clarify their message.
Instead, they stress a clear advantage or benefit prospects get when they do business with them. FedEx will get your letter or package to the recipient overnight without delay or hassle. Geico will save you 15% or more on car insurance.
Unfortunately, since Domino’s became larger, they dropped the “or it’s free” part of their USP, but they still focus on getting you your pizza in roughly 30 minutes. If you order online, their website will count down how long it has been since you ordered your pizza, when it was put into the oven, and when it was given to a driver to deliver to you.
Create Your Unique Selling Proposition
You may already have a USP. Here are a few ways you might be able to differentiate yourself.
- Do you solve a problem or frustration in your market? Is there something prospects fear or view negatively that you can flip into an advantage on your part?
- Can you own a market niche and become a well-known authority?
- Can you position yourself as the premium service and charge higher prices for your expertise?
- Is there something you do for clients that is above and beyond what the competition does?
- Can you offer a strong guarantee that sets you apart from your competition?
- Can you do something differently than your competitors? Do many of your competitors offer a similar process for delivering products and services that you can do differently? For instance, if most people charge an hourly fee, can you package your services into a fixed cost solution?
- Can you create and name an easy-to-follow process that only your company offers?
- Can you offer cash rewards or refunds if people refer a certain number of paying clients to you businesses?
- Do you offer speedier or expedited services? Do you offer bigger discounts or lower costs? Is your product or service better in some way – like more convenient, more accurate, more choices, made with higher-end components, has won awards, and so forth?
Action Step – Craft Your Unique Selling Proposition
Yesterday, I asked you to make a list of each of the problems your niche has, how you solve those problems and list the benefits of each of those solutions. Today, I’ll ask you to narrow down your list – which benefit is most compelling? What is exclusive to your business that your competitors don’t or can’t offer? That benefit will form the core of your USP.
So today’s action step is to start crafting your USP. To do so, you’ll need to answer these specific questions. Who will benefit most from your solution? This is, who is your target audience? Next, what is the major problem your prospects are facing that your product or service directly solves? For instance, why should they solve it right now and what will happen if they wait to solve it or choose not to take action. And finally, how does your solution directly solve your client’s problem?
Your USP should address all three of those questions in a simple, clear, concise manner. You want to be able to explain it in a sentence or two at most, so it may take you a few tries to narrow it down into something that works for your business.
