Defining A USP In 3 Simple Steps

In a world where’s so much sameness, there has to be a way to make yourself, or your company, stand out. There has to be a way to let people know what is special about you, your company, your products, or the market you’re part of.

Defining a Unique Selling Proposition (USP) is a fun and valuable exercise, for new companies as well as established ones, new or existing products, and should be refined and tailored when considering new markets, designing a new product range, or new service area.

Your unique selling proposition is not what you think of yourself, your company or your products, but the ultimate value it creates for your customers. Defining that USP is important to the company frontline and back-office employees, who need to communicate and deliver those promises to the consumer.

Most industries and companies today can be disrupted, with the advent of technology, enabling new ways of doing business. New business models are being developed, and new services or products are on offer in a way which changes the way we consume, and make money. Finding, and being able to articulate your USP in a meaningful way to your customers is absolutely necessary, if you want to stay in business.

Recently I had the pleasure of helping a new entrant to the mortgage market, defining their own Unique Selling Proposition. I’ve taken a three-step process, and making sure everyone was involved. It was important for me NOT to come with ideas to spoon-feed them. I had to come up with a series of questions and talking points, and encourage the team to come up with something they truly believe in, so they can communicate it to their clients with conviction and confidence. It’s important to note, and make it absolutely clear to the people I’m working with, that as a consultant I’m no expert in their field – they are. I’m merely a facilitator, helping them bring forward their knowledge and expertise, and guiding them from the potential customer view-point.

Defining a USP in 3 simple steps

1. Step one – I’ve conducted a 1-on-1 workshop with the managing director, the founder and visionary of the company, to get his own perspective on the value he brings to his customers. For this workshop I was prepared, but had no requirements of the MD to do any particular preparation. I wanted it to be off-the-cuff..
2. Step 2 – I facilitated a workshop with the team, almost repeating the same questions I’ve asked the MD. But this time, because the team is generally speaking less visionary, I’ve asked them to do some homework before, and bring some ideas to the discussion.
3. Step 3 – Back at my desk, I’ve produced a document taking all of the input from the two sessions, and had a go at putting forward and articulating some suggestions, to be used as USP’s. It was up to the MD and the team to choose one, or make the final call regarding the final USP.

I’ve put together a list of questions, knowing that if we can answer those questions, we’ll get closer to defining a robust USP. I’ve asked:

• What ideas from other industries can we learn from?
• What’s the biggest pain point of current customers?
• How can we relieve the pain?
• What’s the long term value we offer, beyond the current transaction?
• What are the strengths of the company we can build on?
• What are the strengths of our team members we can articulate to the market?
• What do we think is currently missing in the market, and potential customers might like?

3-4 days prior to the workshop, I sent the team some conversation stimulators, to really get the most value out of the session, and not waste valuable time, thinking… I’ve asked them to bring / think about:

3 types of ideas:

A usual idea – one that is consistent with what has been done in the past;

A different idea – one that is similar to a idea that has worked in the past; and

A radical idea – as the name suggests an idea that is a complete departure from what has been done before.

Something to evoke an emotion

We know that most people make decisions based on emotions, and then justify those decisions rationally. To help our thinking, please bring with you something that will evoke emotion in our customers: a picture, a video or a song / piece of music.

Having the team prepared for the workshop, produced a great discussion, funny and light-hearted. Everyone had a voice, and was confident to participate. Now we had some grounds to cover, in order to find what makes them special.

To find out, we’ve looked at three different angles and defined the main differentiators:

• The company
• The team
• The product / service

Every company is special. Some better known in the market then others. Some are big, some small. The location, culture, surroundings – makes the company unique, and adding to the uniqueness of their offering. The company internal processes have massive influence on the interaction with consumers, and learning about those processes from the team, can open a Pandora’s box. But it also stimulates a healthy discussion, which I believe can only have positive outcomes.

Them people, who make the company, come with their own set of beliefs, behaviour, experience and desires. Together, they make a company culture, which is by definition different to other companies.

And finally – there has to be a major differentiator in the product or service, to make it stand out in the marketplace. Sometimes, that differentiation isn’t obvious from first glance, but when you start digging deeper, some subtleties come up. If they don’t, and your product / service is exactly the same as others’, maybe it’s time to create those differentiators?

Being unique, and having a unique offering isn’t an option. It’s a must. How you go about finding your differentiation points, it’s up to you.

How do you differentiate yourself?