USP - Unique Selling Proposition

As a business owner, one of your goals is likely that you have a line of products that people want to buy or service or range of services that people want to schedule you for. Have you ever stopped to ask yourself “why?” though? Not, why would you have this as a goal, but rather why people would want to do this at all. It may seem like a strange question but too often business owners don’t know exactly what it is that’s drawing customers to them, or they create a model that isn’t sustainable and wonder why they fail. Can you honestly answer what your unique selling proposition is (AKA that special thing you do that makes people want to do business with you)? If not, no worries here are 3 ways to help you figure it out

1. How do you make people feel? Very few people selling products or services are just selling those products or services, instead, they’re also, for better or worse, selling a feeling. For example, I knew a woman who used to routinely spend $100 every two weeks for a wash & set at an upscale salon despite living in a neighborhood where she could get the same treatment done for $10-$15. When I asked her why she did this, she told me it was a matter of the experience she had. At the salons that only charged $10-$15 she often had to wait an hour or more despite making an appointment in advance, the stylists were often eating, gossiping on the phone, or tending to their children while at the same time trying to do her hair, and if she ever had an issue the answer was always that she could go somewhere else. At the salon where they charged $100, however, her stylist was always prompt, there was complimentary champagne and if there was ever issue management made sure it was rectified before the client left the premises. It didn’t matter that the end result was nearly identical what mattered was how she felt. Based on this you need to hone in on how it is that you make clients feel and consider if it’s something that you can build into your larger sales pitch and brand.

2. Are you using buzzwords or filler words to promote your product or services? You need to be very careful when presenting the products that you’re using viable buzzwords instead of just filler words. The difficulty with this however is that a word that was once a buzzword may now just be filler. For example, the phrase “Gluten-free” seems to be on absolutely every type of product imaginable and while I understand it when it’s placed on things like baking mixes or bread products, it feels like a company is pandering when I see it on things like juice. In those instances rather than feeling like relevant information, it feels like the company is overreaching and for me personally, I’ve avoided buying such products. Think about the words that you’re currently using to present your product or service and note that it’s not enough for them to accurate they also have to be eye-catching in a good way.

3. Are you holding yourself back with bad ______________? Bad photos, sloppy copy, and inconsistent branding are just a few of the things that may cause potential buyers to hesitate. The double whammy is that they can also hinder you when you’re trying to figure out what it is that makes you unique. Before you can focus on why people should buy from you, make sure that you have things set up so that you look like a viable option by ditching anything unprofessional, out of place, or just plain bad.

Consumers are an obvious necessity for every business. This means that you have to be especially vigilant about doing what you can to make sure that your business is attractive to them.