A unique selling proposition (USP) is a clear, concise statement that highlights the distinct benefits of a product or service that sets it apart from competitors while providing a compelling reason for customers to choose to buy from your business.
Primary Implication
To break through the noise your target customers battle every day, you must have USP (unique selling proposition) that identifies precisely why the customer should want to buy from you over your competitor or not at all. Your USP is how you minimize your risks in a crowded marketplace. It is how you increase sales, avoid price wars, and protect your profits.
Overview
Only a small percentage of consumers will have a genuine need or desire for your products at any given time. This brutal reality is what makes generating leads for your business so difficult. To entice people to buy from you, you must succinctly articulate the benefits the buyer will receive. The best way to do this is to work forward from “the problem your product solves” to identify precisely why the customer should want to buy from you over your competitor.
A few direct statements reflecting your products and services’ actual and perceived unique benefits is your unique selling proposition (USP.) It is what differentiates your business from your competitors. The challenge is the claims your USP makes must be unique to your business. Your goal is to present your buyer with clear reasons to buy from you rather than your competitor.
Your USP is how you minimize your risks in a crowded marketplace. You begin by determining the actual value you provide to your customers in your customer value proposition (CVP). Next, you determine what is unique and different about the products or services you provide compared to what they could buy from a competitor.
Your uniqueness from your CVP is what defines your unique selling proposition. Your USP needs to differentiate you from competing brands in a compelling way that gives your target customer an apparent, logical reason to prefer your business to your competitors if you want to generate sales at a profit.
Failure to define and communicate your USP concisely and compellingly will result in lower sales and less profitability. True, you can remain on the endless treadmill of working hard, getting little, if anything, in return, or you can do the work to determine the compelling reasons for people to buy from you versus a competitor.
