What Is Your Unique Selling Position?
by Russ von Hoelscher
It should be the biggest, best, most attractive and most advantageous benefit that you can deliver.
The very best USP would be a special, very desirable service or product that you can offer that no one else can. If you've got something lots of folks want and nobody else offers, you're in a very unique and powerful selling position. In our very competitive world, very few enjoy this ultimate advantage, and certainly no one enjoys it for long. Even if you're first with a super new product, you can soon expect lots of competition. Success breeds competitors.
Back to the real world. You've probably got more than you share of competition. Here are just a few of the ways to clobber them with you USP. ..
1. YOUR PRICE IS THE LOWEST. If your price is the cheapest (be sure to tell them exactly how much cheaper), you're well positioned to score big, but only if your low price still allows a decent profit. A cheap price that forbids a respectable profit can destroy this USP and your company.
2. YOU OFFER A HIGHER QUALITY PRODUCT OR SERVICE. Be specific--you must tell exactly how and why your quality is unmatched. People will pay for the quality, but only when they understand the value you offer. You must be convincing and very specific.
3. YOU PROVIDE THE VERY BEST SERVICE. (Again, you must explain exactly how much more service you offer compared to anyone else). Great service always makes for great USP.
4. YOU OFFER A GREATER CHOICE. There is a big advantage in offering more models, more choice, more colors, more options, greater selection, etc. Customers love excesses in variety.
5. YOU SHIP FREE! A few large mail order companies have recently offered "Free Shipping," and they report a substantial increase in sales. Not too surprising, since many mail order buyers detest inflated shipping and handling fees. "Fast, Free Shipping by Federal Express" would grab peoples' attention.
6: YOU OFFER ADVICE AND CONSULTATION AFTER THE SALE. Making it crystal clear that you offer support and consultation after the sale will often help make the sale!
7. YOU OFFER CREDIT AND EASY,LONG-TERM PAYMENTS. This USP must be used selectively, but consumers do respond well to a "Buy now (July), payments don't start till January" approach.
8. YOU OFFER A SUPERIOR GUARANTEE. Since buyers expect a reasonable guarantee on all their purchases, a standard guarantee won't cut it as a USP. However, an extremely strong, long, and/or completely risk-free guarantee can give you a real advantage.
9. YOU OFFER MORE "FREEBIES" THAN YOUR COMPETITORS. This USP is especially valuable to mail order/direct response marketers. Newsletter publishers in particular, have discovered that offering a long list of bonus reports and/or bonus services, premiums, etc., can increase subscription sales up to 100 percent or more. Any "Freebies" with high perceived values can increase the sale of almost any product or service. And you don't have to be a mail order marketer or publisher to use this sales-stimulating USP .
10. YOU SERVE THE NEEDS OF A SPECIFIC TYPE OF PERSON. There is power and profits available to any company or individual marketer who better serves the needs of specific people in a specific market niche than does anybody else. Many fail trying to serve the undefined masses, while a few sharp marketers always carve out handsome profits serving a specific type of person in a specific industry .
You have many choices in selecting your ultimate USP. Just remember, your USP is your biggest promise to your present and potential customers. Make sure it is a promise that you will keep!
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Marketing guru and good friend Russ von Hoelscher publishes "Direct Response Profit Report." For a sample copy of the current issue plus other related materials, send $5 to Publishers Media, Dept. NABE P.O. Box 1295, El Cajon, CA 92022-1295.