CHAPTER 17
REFLECTIONS
1. The Unique Selling Proposition
You know you need a unique selling proposition for your business, but a USP that
also carries an implied guarantee will truly differentiate your business and help you
stand out above the competition. Follow these five steps to create a USP with a
guarantee.
What makes you rent a car from a particular firm? Remember Avis’s "We try
harder" and FedEx’s "When it absolutely, positively has to be there overnight"?
Each of these is a compellingly unique selling proposition that differentiates their
brand and persuades consumers to use them above their competition, because of
the convincing guarantee that they imply.
This is the process I follow as a business coach when helping my clients to
develop their own unique selling propositions and guarantees in an imaginative,
creative way.
1. Think in terms of what your customers receive.
Nobody is interested in buying quality and service because they have no intrinsic
worth. But a car rental firm that tries harder and a shipper who guarantees
deadlines - now that is something to talk about. So what makes you different from
the firm that does the same thing as you across the street or down the road?
2. How is the product or service that you sell unique
in terms of customer benefits?
How does it solve the problems, frustrations or challenges that your prospects
face? A fridge is a fridge but one that auto-defrosts is more than just a fridge, it’s a
lifestyle too. All golf coaches are the same, right? No they’re not. The unique
selling proposition that guarantees to improve your swing (they all do that, by the
way) is the one who gets the business.