Identifying, Creating and Using Your USP?

What's your USP? Don't know, or worse still, you'venever heard of it.

USP is an acronym for Unique Selling Proposition.It's vital for every business to identify itsinherent USP or if it can't identify it, to create it.

If yours is a firm that sells gold coated widgets andthere are NO other firms selling the same product,then you need not worry about your USP - you have oneby default. The default being that you have a marketmonopoly. Provided the product is in demand, you cancharge just about any price you like and you have noworries with competition. Your product is unique - that'syour USP.

But say your business is installing airconditioners andthere are six other firms doing the same thing in yourregion. What's your USP? This is where it gets difficult.You don't have an inherent USP, so you need to createit. If the other firms provide the same range of airconditioners and prices are reasonably comparative,then you need to do one or more of the following:

.Reduce or increase your prices

.Provide better service

.Add value to your products or service

Reducing your price is usually unacceptable as isincreasing your price, although with the latter, youmay decide to specialise in a higher cost product andlook for a niche market with larger amountsof disposable income eg, Baby Boomers. Alternatively, you may decide to focus on commercial airconditioninginstallation.

While it's not always easy to juggle prices and productrange - after all, there are only so many differentbrands of airconditioner - providing better service andadding value to your products or services presents numerousopportunities. Let's consider a few.

Here's an example of an experience I had where a firmadded value to it's product. Although it happened manyyears ago, it is still relevant. My wife and I had ourfirst child and realised within days that our old twin tub washing machine wouldn't be much use washing dozensof nappies (diapers) every week, so we invested in a Hoover automatic top loading machine. When it was delivered, the delivery man unpacked it, set it up in our laundry and then gaveus a demonstration on how to work it.

We were astonished. We had expected it would have just beendropped off and it would be up to us to unpack, set it upand work out how to use it. That was the best servicewe had ever received - anywhere! And it got better.

About a week later the firm telephoned us to make sureeverything was working just fine and assured us that ifwe had any questions, problems etc, we could contact themat any time. We were again astonished. I wrote to themanager and told him/her how pleased we were with ourpurchase and associated service.

Sadly, in the ensuing 28 years we have had few othersimilar experiences.

If you sell goods or services and you want to stand outagainst your competitors and increase your profit, identify or create your USP and make it central to yourorganisational ethos.

Your USP need not be expensive, elaborate or resourceintensive. The idea is to find a USP that is very lowcost, but has high customer acceptance. What do you wantas a customer? Do you want to be treated politely; asthough your custom is really valued? Do you want a freepen? Would you like the sales people to keep in touch?Whatever you want, your customers want the same.

Find what you can do to make your customer service special,add value, or both in some small way. Then integrate itinto your everyday operations and you're on your way.

If you choose a USP that includes keeping in touch eg,sending a reminder that a car is due for service, a dogdue for immunisation, it will help you generate ongoingbusiness and loyalty.

Don't forget that you will also need to update, changeor refocus your USP. After a while it will become socommon that people won't see it as being special ... thereason they deal with you. Hopefully, by then they willbe so accustomed to doing business with you, they willstay for good.

Now, once again, 'What's your USP?'

Good luck with your business.

Robin Henry is a HR&D specialist/Internet entrepreneurwhose business Desert Wave Enterprises focuses onimproving business and personal performance. His productsinclude a range of e-books, Internet marketing courses,and health and nutrition supplements. He can be contactedat http://www.dwave.com.au