MARKETING FEATURE
How to Command Above- Average Fees without Suppressing New Client Acquisition
BY ROBIN ROBINS
One of the most powerful marketing and business advantages you can give yourself that accelerates the sales process and significantly reduces fee resistance is having( and being able to powerfully articulate) a great USP, or unique selling proposition.
Simply, a great USP answers the question,“ Why should I, your prospective customer, buy from YOU over all the other MSPs vying for my business?”
Whether a prospect verbally asks this or not, they ARE thinking it, and they are weighing in their mind which MSP they should trust. Price is one consideration, but it’ s absolutely not the only consideration. However, if you look, sound, and act like all the other MSPs they are talking to, failing to convince that prospect of your superiority in value, service, expertise, or knowledge, they will default to price or some other factor that is irrelevant to the quality of service you deliver.
The Critical Importance of Differentiation
The concept of a USP was coined by ad man Rosser Reeves, an advertising pioneer who made his mark in the early 1940s working for Ted Bates & Company. He correctly stated that an advertisement or commercial should show off the value of the product, not the cleverness or humor of the person creating it. Reeves was the originator of the Anacin commercials that“ made more money than Gone With The Wind,” beating Anacin’ s competitors and driving it to the top of its category, and the M & M’ s tag line,“ Melts in your mouth, not in your hands,” still remembered today( although not used in M & M’ s commercials anymore).
In the 1940s, when Reeves was creating advertising campaigns, product competition, distribution, and availability were increasing, giving consumers more choices and requiring advertisers to fight for market share. Today, it’ s ridiculously competitive. There’ s not a single product or service category that doesn’ t have dozens or even hundreds of competitors that are EASILY found and transacted with.
I conducted a research project for a presentation I delivered earlier this year on lists and market share, using the Nashville area as my sample. It’ s a good-size city, but not anywhere as large as a Chicago or LA( right now it’ s the 21st-largest city
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