‘’ If you want to be outstanding, you have to get away from the crowd.’’
Does your business have a unique selling point that makes many heads turn? Before I can ask you what your USP is, let us understand why you need to stand out.
Imagine walking into a fancy dress party with a room full of people wearing different types of costumes, you might even spot the same costumes maybe twice or even more.
Your eyes settle in and take in the environment instantly, but then suddenly a man walks in wearing nothing fancy but just an ordinary shirt.
Even though the room is filled with many people in different costumes, your eyes subconsciously spot the one guy in the middle of the room wearing an ordinary shirt. Now your mind starts wandering, the moment the man arrives your eyes notice him instantly raising questions.
Now imagine being at a sports match, your favourite team is playing and you notice one man supporting the visiting team, and he is right in the middle of the home team crowd, your mind starts to wander again and you can’t help but be drawn to them.
Why do you get drawn to that one person? It is because they are different!
Let me ask you this- in both scenarios, did you notice any of the other people dressed in a costume. Or any of the home team sports fans?
If it was me then I wouldn’t have, that is because they are the same as the person next to them and so on.
If we applied the same thinking pattern to your business, and if you are the same as your competitors then you are the crowd. Not many people are going to notice your business.
So what can you do to stand out from the crowd?
What is your Unique Selling Point?
As a business owner, you need to understand what it is that makes your business different from your competition. If you don’t know the answer to that question, then ask your repeat clients.
But why is it not the price factor?
Many of us are under the impression that the price factor determines how many clients you have in the business or will have in the future. But it is not exactly true,
If you consider cheap prices as a unique selling point in your business then you will experience one of the two outcomes:
- You will be the cheapest service provider in the market and you will only attract a certain type of customer to your business.
- You will eventually be beaten on the price factor and lose business to another competitor who adopts the same strategy.
If you are thinking of customer service then, It’s not customer service – everyone claims to offer great customer service,
Have you ever met a business owner that says “Customer service doesn’t matter”, you haven’t and you won’t because it is just expected - it's what the crowd do.
So what might it be, if you are looking for unique selling point examples, let me tell you what mine is as a business coach:
- I’m an author. I have written a book about how to work less and make more money as a business owner.
- I’m passionate about sharing my knowledge with others, which is why I write these articles with the team from i4T Business.
- I own a field service business, everything that I tell my clients to do I know works because I use it in my own business.
- I believe in building a business that supports your life – I live it, I take one to two weeks off every school holiday, I’m away almost every long weekend and I don’t work on weekends.
- And I only help trade and service business owners – if you own a shop I won’t work with you.
Now that you have an idea, let’s list out your unique selling points!
Use your Unique Selling Points in your Marketing
You need to amplify your Unique Selling Points in everything that you do, on your social media, on your website, and in all of your marketing. In my previous article ‘’How much money is your Trade Workwear and Work Van costing you to make a ‘’Great First Impression’’ I talk a lot about how as a business owner you need to create great impressions to attract more customers to your business.
Your great impression can be your unique selling point.
Customers remember better if you give them something extraordinary to remember you with.
In his book Get Different Marketing, Mike Michalowicz identifies that you have 1/10th of a second to get someone’s attention with your marketing, if you don’t then they ignore you.
This difference factor is all or one of your Unique Selling Points.
Before I can conclude, let me tell you how you can create great impressions with your unique selling points. A recruitment coach I know is a surfer, everything she does amplifies this point of difference, from her podcast to her social media content, to how she shows up to deliver her training. If you like surfing then you notice her, because she is different.
That is how your unique selling point will help you stand out from the crowd, once you have identified your Unique Selling Points review your marketing, there is one question to ask yourself:
Is it the same as the crowd or does it amplify your Unique Selling Points?
Hot off the press!
By Alan Short | Founder and Lead Coach | Global Business Coaching
Business Coach for i4T Business
