If you have competitors, then you should have at least one
Unique Selling Proposition (USP). The more REAL ones you have,
the better - for your Branding, your business recognition, and
your sales!
We all have competitors, and the more you have, the more
important it is that you have a Unique Selling Proposition (at
least one).
Allow me to explain. Let's use a recent example of a
company that sells laser toner cartridges... Do you think they
have competition online? You bet they do, another category
that is swamped with resellers. Sound like yours?
The task of coming up with a USP can sometimes be tough.
But every company needs this, it sets you apart from your
competitors. Let me stress this again, it is one or more
reasons why prospects should work with you, or buy from you,
or do business with you, instead of your competitors, period.
Let me narrow this a little further, it used to be if you
had the best price, - you got the business. Although still a
minor USP, price alone should not be the only consideration,
it's not really that unique... Yes, you still need to be
competitive, but I don't want to be the cheapest guy... we're
in this to make a profit, right? So don't make price your
'only' USP. Combine it with more value, something your
competition doesn't do, or doesn't offer.
O.K., back to our example. This company needed more than
price, their product pricing is right inline with everyone
else, so now what?
First of all, you need to know what your competitors do
offer.
This is not a new concept. You can't compete if you don't
know what you're up against. So take a little time and check
out what they have. Do some research, you'd be surprised what
you might find - or not. Special offers, free shipping, a
contest, great customer support?
Take a step back, imagine you are the customer and you do
buy toner from someone a few times a year. If they do not get
great service or it's just average, then chances are you can
sway them your way. This references "customer loyalty" another
chapter, but it follows first getting the customer. So, let's
get the prospect as a customer first.
Now, what do we do to sway these prospects? We offer them
what the competition doesn't. This can be discovered with your
competitive research. Oh, and if you still haven't found a USP
or a few - then Hyperformance Media can help you with this as
well.
Write down every idea that you and your team come up with.
Please don't worry about how silly they might seem (at the
time), just brainstorm with the data you have gained. The
reason I say to include the silly ones, and others is because
sometimes those little ideas that you laughed at can actually
be morphed to create your USP. No idea is too far fetched at
this point, and usually the ideas you laughed at are, in fact,
some things your competitors don't offer. That's where we go
next.
On the toner company we came up with all kinds, some were
already offered by competitors, some were not. The idea is to
initially come up with as many as possible. Here are some of
what we narrowed the field to (we started with about two
dozen);
* Price (of course) * Free Shipping (varied by
quantity/price) * Great Customer Service (so everyone says) *
A Contest / Promotion (a what?) * Free Gifts (vary) * Referral
Savings (with parameters) * Reminders? (to buy)
The next step is again to nail down our list, get creative,
really think here. This alone still makes us more competitive
(once implemented), even if others use the same approach. Why?
Because before we did this, there was a ton of competition,
and as we add these USP's we now narrow the list of our 'real'
competitors. We are now more competitive within our industry,
because we now offer things that (most) of our competitors do
not!
We are getting more competitive immediately by implementing
some simple offerings. Let's take each one in this example and
see how we can use it or discard it to our advantage.
* Price - Still very important in any market, but very tied
to customer value (or perceived value). If your product or
service is not competing here - it does not necessarily rule
you out, more on this later. However, this is usually where a
shopper starts (because it's easy), and you want to be
considered with this group. In this example, we agreed that
(based on our research) we were in the market on price. So our
price is competitive and that's great, but not unique enough
to get the business.
* Free Shipping - In our research, we found that most of
the company's who were offering this service were just a
couple dollars higher in price (covering their "free" offer).
So while it may have some perceived value, it was not enough
for this company to offer that, so we discarded this one. If
however, your costs are such that you can ship for free and
still be competitive and profitable, this is a worthwhile USP.
* Great Customer Service - This is stated everywhere,
making it tough for the consumer to know what is reality. It
is hard to judge until you are a customer. It would be more
valuable to offer testimonials of Great Customer Satisfaction.
Not Customer Service, but Customer Satisfaction. There is a
big difference here. So we DO want to take some of our really
satisfied customers and put together, or request their
testimonials. This is much more powerful than the words or
promise of "Great Customer Service". So we will use this, but
focusing on satisfaction with testimonials in our advertising
pieces and website, etc.
* A Contest/Promotion - This covers a broad area, but can
be extremely successful when implemented and marketed
properly, so be creative and if possible, develop one for your
business, product or service. After our discussions, and
research, we have begun developing this idea. Example: Every
time you buy from us, you get another chance at winning "Free
Toner for a Year". I know you're saying... free toner for a
year - what are you crazy? Bear with me on this... first of
all, most of their customers use 4 to 6 toners in normal use
in one year (In our contest, we can actually cap that in our
rules, i.e., "Not to exceed 6 cartridges". So we associate our
costs to that, which does not make this a cost prohibitive
program at all, depending upon the program success. Again, the
mileage and customers we gain from our contest is potentially
huge, and if it works well, we continue it... at a maximum
cost of 6 toners per year for a Grand Prize.
* Free Gifts - Don't discount this one, many people grab
hold of these 'offers' to feel like they are making out. All
else being the same, the customer does get something for
nothing. Now, if the item truly has no value, then the
customer has little to no interest. And, it actually
'cheapens' the image
of your firm (be careful). We decided with our products and
business customer profile, this would not work for this
business. But it could work for you or your products.
* Referral Programs - Another potential attraction
(savings) for your customer. I say potential because this type
of referral program, like price, should not be the only USP.
When used in conjunction with others, this can steadily grow
your business (sales) as well. You need to develop a program
that somehow rewards referrals. For example, it can be
something simple like "Refer a customer to our business and
when we ship their order you will receive or accrue credits,
dollars, points, or 5% off your next order". Get the idea? The
key is to make it of value, and still keep it cost effective.
* Reminders - This was it! The big one, it was unique, it
has great value to the customer, and it reinforces our
Customer Satisfaction! This was also laughed at when first
mentioned.
So? What was the plan? We acquire a software program that
can be set to automatically e-mail each customer based on
their own usage when their toner and supplies were potentially
running low (i.e., 30 or 90 days or any date we choose. Once
set-up it is all automated (cost effective)! It also gave us
their e-mail address (important anytime) and with our
reminders we could include any special or seasonal offers that
might further attract more sales.
So, what did this company find?
In a nutshell - Their products are priced well to compete.
In this case, we discarded free shipping as not really cost
effective. We stressed Satisfied Customers in all of our
marketing materials with testimonials and real-life examples.
We are also developing a contest to further set us apart from
our competitors. We could not find a free gift we thought
would add any value to the customer (but continue to look).
They are considering a Referral Program as well.
The real USP in combination with the others was our unique
E-mail Reminder System. At that time, no other competitor was
offering anything like this! This IS a Unique Selling
Proposition and was perfect for our example. Put all these
together, and this company has numerous 'edges' on their
competition. Once customers are aware of these differences
that set you apart from all the rest - growth is almost
certain! That company is in a much better position to 'own'
their market online, or at a minimum increase their market
share.
The more you get the word out, the more you're sure to
benefit from these type ideas.
I understand this was a pretty broad example but you should
get the idea.
You won't always come up with an idea that no competitor
has or offers, but if only 3-6 competitors offer that same USP,
you are still in the top tier of your competition instead of
lost somewhere un-noticed while buyers continue to purchase
through your competition. You decide.
Scott is the Founder and Sr. Project Manager for
Hyperformance Media, Inc. a website marketing company since
1996. His 24+ years experience in the computer industry can
help your business succeed online!
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