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BEB Profit K USP Class
Imagine you go to a nice restaurant,
give your name for a table... comfortably sit down for a few moments. Then the
waiter comes over,addressing you by your name says "thank you for waiting
Mr. Jones, I'm Zoltán, your waiter, I will be serving you tonight,please follow
me to your table".
… You walk over, sit down and enjoy a
wonderful meal. The napkins are perfectly folded on a spotless tablecloth, your
waiter is friendly and attentive, the lights are turned down low, pleasant
background music, nice decor… it is a truly enjoyable experience.
Assuming the price was in a normal
range, do you remember how much you paid? Do you care?
Now imagine that very same food... You
stand waiting in line for your turn, they call your name and point you to a
table, you sit under pounding lights, a noisy crowd, spotted silverware, the
waiter hands you the menu, spouts the 'special', and runs off...
Well, you get the point.
The cost of food ingredients between
the two restaurants are about the same. But the value delivered to you as the
customer is far different. The "reason why" you choose one restaurant
over another is far different.
This article is about the reason why
customers choose you, or should choose you, and not your competitors.
Welcome
to the 2nd lecke, let’s get started: Differentiate and increase
your profit. If not, die.
The
critical importance of being unique.
Why
do people buy from you? If they aren’t
buying from you now, why should they?
With
10, or 20, or 50 other companies selling the same products and services as you,
would this be important to know? More
importantly, would it be important to clearly and simply communicate it
to your customers?
Every
successful business has a strong brand and/or Unique Selling Proposition (USP),
or else they would just be lost in the crowd.
A
USP is your „Brand Promise”, that distinct and appealing idea that sets your
business, or practice, favorably apart from every other generic competitor. Your long-term marketing
and operational successes will, ultimately, be helped or hurt by the USP you
decide upon.
Advertising
great Rosser Reeves created the phrase “Unique Selling Proposition” in the
1950’s. But the concept became well
known in 1919 when Claude Hopkins took “Schlitz Beer” from #15 in sales to #1
in 6 months. This is still studied in
Harvard Business School.
How
did Claude Hopkins do that?
In
the early 1900’s everybody sold beer the same way and everyone said their beer
was “pure”. Hopkins simply described
what “pure” meant to the buyer: “4,000 feet deep Artesian wells to provide the
purest water, huge filters with white wood pulp provided superior filtering,
the mother yeast cell was a product of 1,200 experiments to bring out the
fullest flavor, etc.
Do
you see the difference between saying that you are “pure”, and describing what
“pure” means?
Next
time you want to say that you have faster service, or better quality, or better
prices, or more experience, or better ingredients, etc, -- describe what that
means to the buyer.
The
possibilities for building a USP are unlimited. It's best, however, to adopt a
USP that dynamically fills an obvious void in the marketplace that you can
honestly fill. Beware: It's actually counter-productive to adopt a USP if you
cannot fulfill the promise.
Most
business owners don't have a USP, only a "me too," rudderless, not
descriptive, not appealing business that depends solely upon the momentum of
the marketplace. There's nothing unique; there's nothing distinct. They promise
no great value, benefit, or service -- just "buy from us" because we
are here.
It's
no surprise then that most businesses, lacking a USP, are not very profitable.
Their failure rate is high and they get only a small share of the potential
business. But other than a possible convenient location, why should they get
much turnover if they fail to offer any appealing promise, unique feature or
special service?
Would
you want to shop at a firm that's just "there," with no unique
benefit, no incredible prices or selection, no especially comforting advice,
service or guarantee? Or would you prefer a firm that offers you the broadest
selection in the country? Or one with every item marked up less than half the
margin other competitors charge? Or one that sells the "Rolls Royce"
of the industry's products?
Can
you see what an appealing difference the USP makes in establishing a company's
perceived image or posture to the customer? It's ridicules to operate any
business without carefully crafting a clear, strong, appealing USP, and incorporating
it into every customer contact of that business.
The
key is to focus on the one niche, need or gap that is most painfully lacking,
provided you can keep the promise you make.
You
can even create multiple USPs -- combinations that integrate one marketing gap
with another. Before you decide on a USP, though, be sure you can always
deliver that USP through your whole organization. You and your staff must
consistently deliver on your USP promise.
If
you decide your USP is that your company offers the broadest selection of
products or services "instantly available" or "always in
stock," but in reality you only stock six out of 25 items and only a few
of each item, then you're falling down on your USP promise, and your marketing
will probably fail. It is critical to always fulfill the "big
promise" of your USP.
If
you don't honestly believe you can deliver on your USP, pick another one to
build your business on. Just be sure it's unique and that you can fulfill it.
Remember,
the USP is the nucleus around which you will build your success, and profit, so
you better be able to state it. If you can't state it, your prospects won't see
it. Whenever a customer needs the type of product or service you sell, your USP
should bring your company immediately to mind.
Clearly
communicating your USP through both your marketing and your business
performance will make your business profitable. But you must reduce your USP to
its simple bare essence.
Try
it. With paper and pen, prepare a one-paragraph statement of your new USP. At
first, you will have trouble expressing it tightly and specifically. It may
take two or three paragraphs or more. That's okay. Edit away the generalities,
and focus on the crispest, clearest, and most specific promise you could
possibly deliver. Then, rework it and cut away the excess verbiage or unclear
statements until you have a clearly defined Unique Selling Proposition a
customer can immediately understand. And then, integrate your USP into every
marketing aspect of your business.
One
good strategy is to find a “pain point”, a need that goes unfulfilled, in your
market and create a USP to solve it.
Pain: I have to get a package delivered fast
USP: When it absolutely, positively has to be there overnight.
-- Federal Express
Pain: Not finding the book that you want
USP: Earth’s biggest bookstore. -- Amazon.com
Pain:
You want a feeling to get you going
USP: Red Bull gives you wings.
Pain: You want glasses now
USP: Glasses in about an hour. -- Lens Crafters
Pain: Children are hungry and mom and dad don’t
have time to cook
USP: Fresh hot pizza delivered
in 30 minutes or it’s free. – Dominos Pizza
Pain: You hate to paying huge mark-ups for jewelry
USP: Don’t pay 300% mark-ups to a traditional
jeweler for inferior diamonds! We guarantee
that your loose diamond will appraise for at least 200% of purchase price, or
we’ll buy it back. – Discount Jewelry
Just for reference, here is a list of
some of the common USP positioning tactics used in many businesses and
professional services. Please keep in mind that many of them overlap (the four
general categories are bolded). You may want to refer back to these when you’re
working through your USP.
Positioning Tactics
Service
Convenience
Advice/consulting
Instant availability
Warranty
Guarantee
Customer support
Installation
Exclusivity
Handcrafted
Limited edition
By recommendation only
Unique engineering
Manufacture (what is it made from?)
Value
Easy to use
Widest range
Short delivery time to benefit
More capable
Size
Technology
Active
Theoretical (does it have the latest
technology?)
Practical
Focused
Weekly, Monthly (or another time period)
Short, quick read
Colorful (or any other visual stimuli)
Nutritious
Strength
Price
Discounts
Special Offer
Hopefully by now, you have a good
start to your USP. Check it over before you
decide to use it. Ask yourself the
following questions about the USP you have created…
» Is it results oriented (i.e. does it convey a concrete
benefit)?
» Does it allow you to stand apart from your competitors?
» Is it in simple language?
» Say it over and over to yourself. Are you comfortable
with it? Does it flow?
» Do you feel good about your USP?
Next, try it out on a few people.
These don’t need to be clients or prospective customers. Just use colleagues, friends, etc… then
review the following questions….
» Do people understand what you do when you tell them your
USP?
» When you tell people your USP, do they give you a blank
start or ask, “How do you do that?”
» Does it start a conversation?
You may need to fine tune it a little
further based on your answers to these questions. If
you’ve done your homework and filled
out this Action Plan, it should be easy to adjust your USP.
If you still don’t have your USP, you
can’t create a uniqueness for your business?
Don’t worry there is still hope.
Next week we will finish the lesson by changing your weakness into a
strength for your USP.
To your higher profits,
Imre Homer
