How To Find Your USP

The business you think you are in is probably different from the one your customers want you to be in. Whether you have set up a new business, or have been established for some time, it’s essential to take the time to understand in detail everything there is to know about your customer. Get to know them intimately.

This is because a lot of small business owners either fall into their business or set up because of a particular passion or interest. They don’t always know if there’s a need for their services and why. In order to find out, you need to start asking questions:

What keeps them awake at night?
What frustrates them the most?
What problems do they need solving?
What current trends are they following?
Who else might they be talking to, if not you?

Eighty percent of your time, you are in the problem-solving business. Once you understand this, it’s much easier to position and market your services.

Florists don’t just sell flowers. If they are smart, they go out of their way to help people: husbands who have forgotten their anniversary and who are in a panic, families who are having trouble choosing flowers for a funeral, or a daughter who wants to send a simple bouquet to her mother. When people help you, you are more willing to return to them the next time you have a problem. And you naturally find yourself telling others about the great service.

When you apply this type of thinking to your own business, you move from ‘what can I get from of this’ thinking to a ‘how’s this going to help my customer’ mindset.

Whether you are selling luxury goods or something cheap and cheerful, your product has to satisfy a need that will, in some way, deliver a physical or emotional benefit.

Your big challenge is to find ways of making yourself stand out from your competitors. What is different about what you do? What is your Unique Selling Proposition (USP)?

You do this by finding the answer to the Dan Kennedy USP question that is in the mind of your customer:

‘Why should I choose your business/product/service versus every other competitive option available to me?

It’s not supposed to be an easy question. Nor is the answer likely to appear in a matter of minutes. It requires some deep thinking about what you are about and what the market needs that isn’t already being provided.

The most famous example of a USP is Domino Pizzas: ‘ Fresh hot pizza delivered in 30 minutes or less, guaranteed’. It originated as a result of trying to sell pizza to hungry students. The product is inviting – it’s fresh and hot, you know how long it’s going to take – 30 minutes and you have peace of mind – a guarantee. These three things automatically distinguish Domino Pizza from the competition. And when it was first coined, it appealed directly to starving students who didn’t have the time or inclination to make a trip off campus.

USPs are everywhere. Magic conditioner shampoos that promise a woman she won’t get painful tangles when she combs her hair. Training shoes with flashing lights that make your child glow in the dark and stand out in the playground. And Food that comes from Fairtrade suppliers and which eases your ethical conscience.

A USP can be based on any number of factors:

Price – you are the cheapest or most expensive? Your price includes a wide range of bundled services?
Product Ingredient – your product has a special ingredient that few know about? Positioning – you are the expert in your field or niche? You publicly associate yourself with what you do?
Time – you deliver within better time-scales than your competitors?
Scarcity – you have what few can find and even fewer can afford?

Creating your own USP is a voyage of discovery. Your business needs a USP and each of your products or services will benefit by having one. Start to think in terms of USP when you go to the shops or watch television. Work out what they are and why? And look at your competitors. Do they have one? If so, what are the factors and how is yours different?

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