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This post, “Develop an effective USP Intro” is part of the small business profit course series.
It’s all about defining the concept of the USP so clearly that you can really sink your teeth into it. I’ll have some supplemental posts (such as history of the USP, billion dollar USPs, unconventional USPs, the elevator pitch-abbreviated USP) outside of the main track of the Small Business Profit Course for you to dig deeper into at your convenience, but today we’re going to give you the shortest track to develop a customized USP that works.

We’ll Cover:
The Definition of a USP
The EVP alternative to USP
The profit-pulling power of a strong USP (simulations and history)
USP Crafting Step 1: Know thyself (What am I good at)
USP Crafting Step 2: Know thy customer (Research what your customers value)
USP Crafting Step 3: Know thy enemy (Competitive analysis: Identify product/service/message voids)
USP Crafting Step 4: The Guarantee in a USP
When to bail out of your business
Marketing: Affordable Business Re-engineering

Definition of a USP
Like I mentioned in the Branding, Differentiation and Positioning post, my definition of the USP (Unique Selling Proposition) is as follows:

A USP is a concise, benefit-telegraphing idea or promise that conveys powerfully and with immediacy why your target customer or client should do business with you rather than a competitor or substitute. This idea should convey the “uniqueness” of your business among the prospective customer’s alternatives.

But what happens when there just isn’t anything unique about your business?

Even in stable and mature industries where uniqueness is difficult to achieve, you must still differentiate your business. The Extra Value Proposition (EVP) is the business case you make for “what more” your client will get by going with you rather than your competitor.
(By the way, it’s relatively uncommon to not be able to craft at least one unique competency…if you need ideas, check out Business innovation 101)

A USP slogan is the statement that communicates the USP and that can be deployed and re-deployed throughout your marketing system. Your USP statement or slogan (also known as a “tagline”) is the tool that connects your USP to increased profitability in your business.

What do I mean by that?

When I ask most small business owners what marketing outcome they’d like to see in their business, without batting an eye most of them say, “I need to get more customers!”. In reality, the vast majority of businesses I see (including some of my past clients) don’t realize that there’s more profit and wealth to be realized from following up with, and converting current prospects, than there is in finding a whole new bunch of leads.

No matter what business you’re in, there are Only 3 Ways To Grow Your Business. No more no less!

And once you recognize that a strong USP is the core of any effective marketing strategy and system, and that deploying it throughout your business is the best way to experience the effect of that USP, you’ll hurry to craft a strong, effective USP (Or have your USP created and deployed for you)!

The EVP (Extra Value Proposition)

If you’re like most of my clients and most small business owners I know, you’re probably struggling with whether the USP is a realistic demand to make of your business. In other words, you’re probably thinking,

“That won’t work in my business because my business isn’t all that unique…”

Well, that’s what thousands of Pizza joint owners were thinking the day Tom Monahan was crafting the USP that built a billion dollar company.
The truth of the matter is that 99.999% of the time, I can find a combination of staff/ owner expertise, staff competencies, market niche focus, breadth of selection/ network/ suppliers, location or some other feature of your business that can be unique when applied to your desired market.
However, in the strictest sense, you don’t need to have an absolutely unique selling proposition for your business to profit immensely from superior positioning.

An “Extra value proposition” (EVP) is a variant of the USP. It is the differentiating idea for businesses delivering commodity products and services, that are smart enough to differentiate their marketing message.

What a powerful USP can do for you
If you’re a student of effective marketing, you have undoubtedly come across some of the legendary USP case studies where millions of dollars in profit growth were realized. However, many serious-minded entrepreneurs like you struggle with visualizing how something so abstract as “positioning” can have a real dollar value to you business. The power of a USP is:

The power to convert a greater percentage of prospects to clients with a strong USP

The power to attract a greater percentage of referral partners and close more referrals

The power to generate a greater number of referrals because of the “specificity” of a strong USP

The power to attract positive Word of Mouth and media coverage because of an outstanding USP

There have been cases where small businesses have received tons of coverage on TV, radio and print media because of a singularly remark-able USP statement which the company has crafted and backed up with performance.

If you are currently doing any advertising (newspaper, yellow pages, coupon mailers, direct mail) or tele-prospecting (telemarketing, internet marketing) at all, your business can experience instant profits from the construction of an effective USP.

Developing a strong USP while avoiding common USP mistakes is the single biggest thing you can do to skyrocket your conversion rates and systematize your marketing in a way that will earn you more (if you choose to sell your business) or give you more freedom to have your business work for you (rather than have you be a slave to your business).

An effective USP, exists somewhere at the intersection of:

Your core business strengths or marketing assets (often ‘hidden’ in plain sight)

The hidden wants, frustrations, desires of your marketplace; your prospects and customers

Your competitor’s weaknesses or the empty spaces in your competitor’s marketing messages.

A strong USP is the foundation of an effective marketing system and strategy. While you can take advantage of our services to develop an effective USP, I’m going to show you in the posts below (over the next few weeks), a step-by-step system for creating a USP that you can use (My only caution to you is that you read and re-read the most common USP mistakes post).

Developing A Strong USP Step 1: Identify Your Core Business Strengths
Developing A Strong USP Step 2: Small Business Market Research Gold
Developing A Strong USP Step 3: Competitive Survey and Scanning Secrets
Developing a Strong USP Step 4: USP statement , elevator pitch and sales scripting for profit

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