{"id":14847,"date":"2020-08-03T13:33:03","date_gmt":"2020-08-03T18:33:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sfwpartnersllc.com\/?p=14847"},"modified":"2020-08-03T13:33:03","modified_gmt":"2020-08-03T18:33:03","slug":"does-your-business-have-a-unique-selling-proposition","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sfw.cpa\/news-and-guides\/does-your-business-have-a-unique-selling-proposition\/","title":{"rendered":"Does Your Business Have a Unique Selling Proposition?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><html><head><\/head><body><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/snd-store\/a\/48921017\/07_15_20_1126388473_bb_560x292.jpg\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Many business owners \u2014 particularly those who own smaller companies \u2014 spend so much time trying to eliminate weaknesses that they never fully capitalize on their strengths. One way to do so is to identify and explicate your unique selling proposition (USP).<\/p>\n<p><strong>Give it some thought<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>In a nutshell, a USP states why customers should buy your product or service rather than a similar one offered by a competitor. A USP might be rather obvious if you offer a type of state-of-the-art technology or specialize in a certain kind of service that\u2019s not widely available. Many businesses, however, will need to dedicate some serious thought and discussion to identifying their USP \u2014 and they may need to do so every year or two to adapt to market changes.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Ask the right questions<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Involve employees from every level of your company in brainstorming sessions to develop your USP. During these meetings, consider the answers to questions such as:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>What makes our products or services distinctive?<\/li>\n<li>What aspect of our business is most important to its growth?<\/li>\n<li>Which elements of what we do are the most difficult for competitors to copy?<\/li>\n<li>Why should customers buy from us instead of the competition?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>As you might have noticed, knowledge of your competitors is critical to developing a strong USP. You can\u2019t differentiate your business from theirs unless you\u2019re familiar with what competitors are selling, how they sell their products or services, and how they support those sales in terms of customer service. To this end, you may need to undertake some \u201ccompetitive intelligence\u201d efforts to gather needed information.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Integrate it into the sales process<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Your USP should be a powerful, concise statement that customers and prospects will immediately understand and recognize as fulfilling their wants or needs. Among the most commonly cited examples is package delivery giant FedEx\u2019s \u201cWhen it absolutely, positively has to be there overnight.\u201d Although the company doesn\u2019t use this slogan anymore, it remains a perfect example of a USP that\u2019s clear and memorable.<\/p>\n<p>Of course, your USP must be more than just words. Once established, it should serve as a sort of \u201cmantra\u201d for your sales team. That is, after identifying your customers\u2019 needs during the sales process, they should use the USP (or an iteration of it) to explain to customers why your product or service is the right choice. Just be careful not to <em>overuse<\/em> your USP in sales and marketing materials, including on your website.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Now may be the time<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Given the monumental changes that have occurred in the U.S. economy and in many industries because of the COVID-19 pandemic, now may be an imperative time to reconsider and relaunch your USP. We can help you evaluate your sales numbers, as well as return on investment in marketing efforts, to carefully craft the right approach.<\/p>\n<p><em>\u00a9 2020<\/em><\/p>\n<p><\/body><br \/>\n<\/html><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Many business owners \u2014 particularly those who own smaller companies \u2014 spend so much time trying to eliminate weaknesses that they never fully capitalize on their strengths. One way to do so is to identify and explicate your unique selling proposition (USP). Give it some thought In a nutshell, a USP states why customers should [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":14846,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,10],"tags":[23],"class_list":["post-14847","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-articles","category-news","tag-business"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sfw.cpa\/news-and-guides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14847","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sfw.cpa\/news-and-guides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sfw.cpa\/news-and-guides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sfw.cpa\/news-and-guides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sfw.cpa\/news-and-guides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14847"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.sfw.cpa\/news-and-guides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14847\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sfw.cpa\/news-and-guides\/wp-json\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sfw.cpa\/news-and-guides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14847"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sfw.cpa\/news-and-guides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14847"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sfw.cpa\/news-and-guides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14847"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}