Today I want to pose a question and ruminate a bit about Unique Selling Propositions (USP). You may have heard the term before or something similar, but basically it boils down to: What do you offer that makes your business stand out from all your competition?

The question I want to pose to all of you is one that Shelly and I are struggling with currently, is your USP enough? We’re pretty confident we’ve got a distinct difference from the rest of our competition, that is those that offer business advice to artists, and it stems directly from who we are and our varied experience in different careers. But we’re wondering if it’s enough, do we need more distinction in what’s becoming a more crowded market?

I’d like to pose the same question to you and I really want you to think about it. Do you do anything that no one else can or does? Do you offer a service or material that’s not currently out there? Is your design style so unique that no one else can come close? There are a few of you that may answer yes to one of those questions, but many of you won’t. Don’t despair!

A USP can be something as simple as how quickly you complete custom orders or the personalized service you give in your shop. It doesn’t have to be amazing new technology or even a product no one else has seen, but it needs to be something that people want to come back for.

Zappos is a great example of a business that had success with a focused USP. There were many places to buy shoes online, so many in fact that the only distinguishing factor between them seemed to be price. Zappos enters the scene and offers free shipping, no matter what, and free returns. Those two simple things made clicking that buy button so much easier for customers. Zappos had more than $1 billion in sales last year.

I do want to stress that your USP also doesn’t have to be about price; actually it’s often not. Think of it from the customer’s point of view. You’re looking for a new pair of shoes and you see two pairs almost identical, but one is almost twice the price of the other. Seems an easy choice right? You choose the cheaper one. But what if you knew the ones that were more expensive would also be so comfortable you could wear them all day, running errands, to work, and even out for a night on the town and your feet wouldn’t hurt. However, the cheaper ones, even though they looked the same from the outside would give you blisters by lunch. If the expensive shoes fit within your budget, wouldn’t you buy them?

A USP is almost always about perceived value, not straight up cost. There will always be someone wiling to do it cheaper. Instead put your focus on your customer's needs. They like things to be easy, they like to have experiences that make them feel special, and they generally buy because they want something, not because we need it.

I’ll leave you with a few things to think about to help you come up with or refine your own USP.

What are the benefits of your product or service?

What do you do that’s different from your competition?

Do you or can you solve a problem for your customers or within your industry?

Be specific. Give proof of your benefit.

Can you consistently deliver on this USP? I mean every single time you make a sale. If not you need to find another USP.

Photo by HolgaJen