I am often asked by my clients to explain “how do I find my USP?”
The USP is your unique sales proposition, that tangible and amazing nugget of gold, that differentiates you in your busy and competitive marketplace.
If you are a commodity offer, the same as your competitors, or worse still, you simply copy what others do, then this is the chance to forge a new and exciting path to business growth, by finding and executing on your USP.
So how do your find your USP?
There are three questions to address to find your USP with confidence and clarity:
- Your competitors aren’t doing it
- Your customer really wants it (emotionally as well as logically)
- You are capable of delivering it
Now these three questions may appear simple at the outset, but delve deeply and they are fundamental to the proposition you would like to offer.
If your competitors are doing it then it’s not unique so it doesn’t qualify. If you customer isn’t going to fully engage with it then there’s little point progressing with it (research may be required to answer this question). If you aren’t capable of sustaining the momentum in delivering it then it’ll set up a frustration within your business that could be worse than attempting to do it anyway.
Find yourself in the luxury of identifying more than one USP and you have a set of prioritisation tools at your disposal for making the correct commercial decision. But more of that another time.
For now, set yourself the task of answering the three questions, accurately and honestly, and enjoy the process. Your USP should excite and motivate. If it doesn’t then it’s not the right one for you.
If you need any help in the process, then do get in touch, because we love to help create USPs and have the tools and processes to help you to make it happen.
