5 Tips for Defining Powerful USPs

To most business owners the importance of having real stand-out USPs is obvious. Once you appreciate the importance of your USPs, the challenge then is how to go about clearly defining them in a way that will attract new customers. For those wondering how you actually go through the process, here are my 5 tips to help steer you in the right direction:

1) Thinking time – Set aside some time to think through your USP definitions. Absence of thinking time is a crucial factor in businesses failing to reach their potential. So schedule time in your diary, remove all distractions (Phone off etc.) and even get out of your normal office environment if you have to. This is time invested to work ‘on’ your Business – so respect it.

2) Involve Others – Business is lonely and hard enough without trying to work this out on your own. Your management team or better still your entire team can provide valuable insight – but only if you choose to ask them. I’ve run a lot of workshops where we’ve created and agreed USPs as a team. The energy and debate created in the room were a huge plus for the owners. It proves to your team that you value their opinion which is highly motivational, plus you’ll be surprised how your own team members can have very different views on what your USP should be!

3) Brainstorm 3-5 areas or attributes that separate your company or product from the rest – these could include:

• Quality
• Service level
• Selection and availability
• Convenience
• Customisation
• Speed
• Reliability
• Powerful guarantee

Add as many words to each chosen concept as possible

4) Be specific! – Leave a customers in no doubt as to how they will benefit if they purchase from you.

5) Put yourself in your Customer Shoes – think about all the things that your customers don’t like about your industry, then make sure you provide the opposite. For example, many people hate the fact that plumbers and builders are often late, do a shoddy job and leave without clearing up their mess. So with the plumbing contracting business I coached, we marketed the fact that you get plumbers turning up within a 1 hour pre-agreed time slot, they clear up after themselves and there was a 1 year guarantee that covered any necessary remedial work.