Your prospects are busy, they want to see a compelling solution from the off. Nobody buys in generalities they are looking for a specific solution. You need to deal with that initial problem that your prospect is talking about in their head.
Can you show a short term gain to get the longer term opportunity?
Developing a Unique Selling Proposition (USP) involves identifying what sets your business, product, or service apart from the competition and clearly communicating this unique value to your target audience. It should be at the heart of why you do things as you do.
Here’s a step-by-step guide to help you develop your USP:
Understand your market and your place in it:
- What are you competitors offering and what are their strategies
- What are you offering, what are you great at, what are you not so great at
- Who are you offering this too
- Where are the gaps in the above?
- What are the needs or requirements that are not being met by the current solutions?”
- What features or capabilities do your market wish they had?
- Is there an issue or issues that are still unsolved – however huge this is write down what those issues are. If you could fix those issues, what would it mean?
AI, big data, technological innovation cannot be ignored. Would the use of them improve delivery of your unique way of doing things?
Be prepared to invest. You don’t know what you don’t know. Be curious, take your solution and talk to people working in the new tech space and tell them what you want it to achieve. As you develop it talk to your target market about it, find out what is important to them. Remember though, you are the technician here, don’t go deep and take them into the wiring show them your value proposition which is the outcomes, results and benefits that improve their situation, and which are currently missing from their life.
So, who needs locking in a dark room to sort out that unique proposition?
It’s not easy but it is worth it.
Oh and one last thing:
Your USP should be a clear, concise statement that communicates your unique benefits in a compelling way to the prospect. It really shouldn’t need a meeting to explain it.
If you feel that your offering is unique then it is a narrative problem and you need to look at the messaging and positioning
Sometimes it might be a bit of both product adjustment and a change in the story.
Test and refine, keep your finger on the pulse and be curious to keep improving your proposition. Done is better than perfect; by getting out there and using it and talking about your USPs you will soon refine it.
