Writer and Mentor - online and in Snowdonia National Park in North Wales. Escape the corporate echo chamber, explore the landscape and bring clarity to your ideas.
Continuing the 'A to Z of Sales' series, ‘U’ is for USP. Selling is the ability to uniquely solve a problem. At the core of this is the USP or Unique Selling Proposition, also known as unique selling point, or unique value proposition (UVP). The term was created in the 1940s by advertising guru Rosser Reeves of Ted Bates & Company. To succeed in sales you MUST have something that helps buyers decide why they should do business with you rather than the other options that are available. But USP has been so over used that many people view it with suspicion. That’s because sellers claim uniqueness when it doesn’t exist. They haven’t thought it through and have just made unubstantiated claims. Think about it for a second. Unique literally means ‘being the only one of its kind’ or ‘unlike anything else’ and if you can say that, you really do have a USP. In reality, finding a true (and provable) USP can be difficult. Some products are invisible because they have no distinct advantage. They are commodities in a crowded market. They compete on the basis of lowest price. That can be a race to the bottom and bankruptcy. But it could also work if it’s scaled correctly. Dell was an innovator when it supplied its computers direct to the consumer. It's claimed USP was lower cost machines delivered though a super efficient supply chain. Others caught up quickly though and this advantage soon evaporated. USP doesn’t just mean a great product or service. It should include everything that makes it different and better. This includes price, value for money, cost of ownership, peace of mind, warranty and after-sales service. The way a business serves its buyers is a powerful USP, even when it sells a generic product or service. Exceptional service means that people love doing business with you and that is a powerful USP. Being different is important, but it must have value. There is confusion about what a benefit is and it’s common to see an advantage described as a benefit. This problem is solved by using the F.A.B. (Feature-Advantage-Benefit) formula which works like this; - Feature is how something works. - Advantage is what it does better than others. - Benefit is the value it delivers. For example; - A car has a hybrid engine (Feature) - This makes it 45% more fuel efficient than diesel and petrol cars (Advantage) - Which reduces fuel costs by more than £1,500 a year (Benefit) Proving this is key though, which is why independent testimonials work well. When others endorse your claims, it’s a solid confirmation. And because humans are herding animals, we usually feel comfortable following the majority. In summary, you must tell buyers how you uniquely solve their problems or help them grasp an opportunity. Focus on what value this delivers and back this up with proof. Do that and you’re in great shape. #atozofsales #usp #differentiation #salesstrategy
David Allen
11mo
Insightful post! Breaking down USP into the F.A.B. formula really helps in understanding how to stand out and show the real value offered to customers.
Exploring how language drives B2B growth
11moWhat are your thoughts John for situations where limited or zero uniqueness is possible? To use your hybrid engine example, all major manufacturers offer hybrids so the benefit would apply to all. My sense is that many B2B and professional services businesses would also struggle to come up with a truly unique offering but still need to stand out in their market.