Business owners are always looking for ways to explain to prospects why they are different or better than their competition, and therefore are the best solution. One way they do this is by crafting a concise sentence or two that stresses the core benefit of working with you. This is called your “unique selling proposition” or “unique sales position,” often shortened to USP.
The concept of the USP started with adman Rosser Reaves back in the ’60s. He wanted a short sentence that would make the products he was advertising memorable to his audience. What he wanted to do was tell prospects the reason why his product existed.
You’ve probably heard the following USPs:
- Dominos: Fresh hot pizza delivered in 30 minutes or less, guaranteed.
- Palmolive: Softens hands while you do dishes.
- FedEx: When it absolutely, positively has to be there overnight.
- GEICO: We’ll help you save you up to 15 percent or more on car insurance
Each of these highlights a core benefit of a product or service. Dominos revolutionized the pizza delivery business when they decided to guarantee they’d get hot pizza to you in 30 minutes or you didn’t have to pay. Since they’ve grown bigger, they’ve removed the “or your pizza’s free” benefit, but they still focus on delivery in 30 minutes or less.
If you order a pizza through their website today, you can even see the time line from when your order was placed, to when it was being made, to when it was put in the oven, to when it was given to the delivery guy. They keep you updated with a 30 minute tracker that even lists the names of who was in charge of which task. And the pizza does arrive pretty close to 30 minutes later. It’s a pretty cool technology to really stress that 30 minute delivery time frame.
In the case of Palmolive, they aren’t the only dish soap that will soften your hands while you’re doing dishes, but they were the first to stress that benefit and claim that USP. This is a great way to differentiate yourself in a crowded marketplace: Stress a benefit that others do too, but no one is explaining to prospects.
Your USP must position you uniquely in your market and be beneficial to your prospects. It’s not enough to just be unique or different from your competitors. You must also position yourself in a way that’s beneficial to your niche. If your prospects don’t see your USP as beneficial, then it won’t do much for you, so look at your marketplace and your competition. What aren’t they doing for prospects? What aren’t they explaining clearly to prospects? Look for the glaring holes and aim to fill them.
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