Having a strong Unique Selling Proposition can help you gain a distinctive edge in any competitive marketplace. Your USP, also known as a Unique Selling Advantage or Unique Competitive Advantage, helps to position you in the eyes of your prospect. It should clearly and succinctly communicate to your prospective customer why he or she should buy from you.

The best USP's come about from an in-depth understanding of your industry and competition. To create a fantastic USP, you need to know first what your competitors are using.

Your USP tells the marketplace what you offer, what makes you different from the other guys and what you'll do for them that will make them want to do business with you over and above all the other options available... including doing nothing. Your USP should focus on what you do best and what clearly distinguishes from all other competing businesses.

Keys To Success

The most successful USP's focus on a big emotional benefit that company offers that no one else does. It's vital to know your competition. Domino's Pizza's famous promise of pizza delivered to your door in “30 minutes or less, or it's Free” helped created a huge business and revolutionized the pizza delivery business.

You'll maximize your results when you create a compelling, huge promise that you can consistently deliver on and that you communicate everywhere. Promote your USP everywhere including; business cards, letterhead, all marketing materials, web site, product packaging, Yellow Pages Ads, etc.

The best system I've seen for developing a strong USP, comes from Marketing guru, Jay Abraham. He suggests taking out 2 sheets of paper. On one sheet write, “You Know How...” and on the other write “Well, what we do is...”

Here's an example of this formula in action:

“You know how most home cleaners only work to schedules that suit them. Well, what we do is send a crew whenever you want, anytime of day or night, 7 days a week, including holidays, 52 weeks a year. When you want your home cleaned, we're there fast, guaranteed!”

Here's another:

“You know how most contractors promise a hassle-free renovation, then... they're always behind schedule, leave your house a mess... and they even have the nerve to charge you 15% more than their estimate! Well what we do is ensure your job will be completed on time and at the initial price quoted – 100% guaranteed! And, our crew understands that you're living in your home throughout the renovation, so we promise to take extra time at the end of every day, just to clean up any mess. We help you create dreams... not nightmares.”

Now, you may want to edit these examples down a manageable size, but by going through this exercise, you'll come up with a powerful USP that sets you apart. The length of your ideal USP depends on the nature of your business and the means you'll use to communicate it.

Examples

U-Haul offers an interesting USP with, “Only U-Haul Moving Vans Have Low Decks And Gentle-Ride Suspensions”. ING Direct promises “Higher Interest Rates, No Minimum Balance and No Fees Or Service Charges”. And Xerox offers “A Simpler Way To Do Good Work”.