How to Positioning Your Company Head and Shoulders Over Your Competition

There is a lot of noise in the marketplace today. What can you do so your customers hear you above all the noise?

It all starts with identifying the distinct advantage you provide your clients. What sets you apart from your competitors? What do you do differently?

How do begin to differentiate your business and it apart from your competition?

You create a Unique Selling Proposition (USP). It’s your USP that set’s you apart from your competitors. Without it, you’re just another company in the business market. Creating one will help your business rise above and set you apart from your competition. Some people use the term Most Valuable Proposition instead of Unique Selling Proposition.

What exactly is a Unique Selling Proposition (USP)?

A phrase used in advertising for your company and/or any product or service providing a unique identity to motivate the customer to buy.

Your USP consist of your most powerful benefit along with your strongest unique aspect of your business. In other words, why would I want your product, what does it do for me and why would I purchase it from your business?

Examples of Famous USP: The famous USP of

• FedEx: "When it absolutely, positively has to be there overnight".
• Domino Pizza: "Fresh, hot pizza delivered to your door in 30 minutes or less, guaranteed."
• Avis Car Rental: "We Try Harder"

Renowned marketer Jay Abraham says "It’s ludicrous to operate any business without carefully crafting a clear, strong, appealing UPS into the very fabric of that business’s daily existence."He goes on in his book "Getting Everything You Can Get Out All You’ve Got" saying only a tiny fraction of all business professionals who adopt a dynamic USP fare much better than those without one.

Your USP must answer the question that is on your customer’s mind….What’s in it for me?

Your customer will buy on emotion. Your USP will either address how it will eliminate a "pain"or give your customer "pleasure”. The customer will use logic to justify the purchase. Benefits represent the emotional level of your customer and features will be the logical justification for buying. Your USP must really concentrate on the benefits.

How to Create Your USP

Grab a pencil and a piece of paper and do something that is about to give you the edge over your competition. Develop your USP by answering the following questions:

1. What are you selling? What exactly is your product and/or service? What does it do?
2. What benefit is it to your customer? A benefit fills a need or solves a problem.
3. What is unique about your product and/or service?…about you?…your company?

Summarize the above questions into one or two paragraphs. Then keep chopping and editing until your get a tightly specific phrase.

This video also provides some ideas on how to brainstorm your USP

Jay devotes an entire chapter in his book on developing your USP. I found it a great place to start. Then with Coach Deb we worked and brainstormed on coming up our current USP: "Gain Control of Your Life and Experience the Luxury of Time."

Once you develop your USP, you must incorporate it into everything you do. But the reward will be worth the time and will put you far above your competition forever.

Oh by the way, USP also stands for Unrealized Sales Potential.

	"The Time Diva"
Ann Rusnak, is the author of "Flip Your Time" a step-by-step system that shows you how to take control of the clock so you can increase your profits and spend more time with your family and friends and experience the luxury of time.