Why
USPs Don't Work by: Debbie Jenkins
The USP (Unique Selling Proposition)
is based on the assumption that if you can't be better than the competition
then being different will usually suffice.
It is true that most businesses scrape
by in the midst of mediocrity. The bosses of these firms see an industry
or profession that looks lucrative and join the ranks in a 'me too, I'd
like some of that action', kind of way. If there's enough of a market for
what they do then they'll pick up the odd client and eke out an existence
without having to think or work very hard on their brand.
Most of these companies make up the
headlines of casualties when the market they're in gets tough and only
the outstanding or well-positioned firms stay safe.
So, the USP, in principle, enables
the enlightened business owner to rise above the ranks and be noticed.
This is usually achieved by:
High Value Promises
Guarantees
Under Promising and Over Delivering
Finding an under-serviced niche in
your market
I applaud and support this way of
thinking and believe that high value promises, guarantees and aiming to
delight clients are all important. I actually believe that these things
should be the baseline for any business.
So the notion of a USP is fantastic.
There's just one tiny flaw...
Finding your USP can be like the
quest for the proverbial Holy Grail. You could end up spending inordinate
amounts of money on research, product/service development and branding
without ever really attaining a true USP. The quest to find 'unique' when
'relevant', 'outstanding' and 'decisive' are just as good can be frustrating
and wasteful.
I've seen people stumble upon some
really great propositions for their brand that would have worked like a
dream, but then dismiss them because they're not “unique” enough.
Some of the problems with USPs:
Nearly every idea you come up with
will have already been done, so struggling to find unique will be frustrating
and wasteful
You'll spend lots of time trying
to invent something truly unique and if you do ever find it you'll never
really know if it's unique anyway
If you are unique then as soon as
you start telling people the reasons why, somebody else will copy it and,
alas, it is no longer unique.
Most people realise the above as
soon as they start looking and instead of doing the hard work they'll just
slap a USP label on something that is 'me too' or mediocre.
USPs feed money hungry textbook marketers
with research, positioning and creative brainstorming projects. Then once
somebody copies you it's back to the drawing board and they can get paid
all over again.
I want you to get the notion of 'unique'
out of your head by replacing it with 'decisive'. We'll look at how to
achieve this shortly but first, I'd just like to tell you about a guy who
came on one of my first Lean Marketing(tm) Master Classes...
Mister 73 USPs: A Warning
This guy's firm provided training
and coaching in performance improvement and change management. He had an
MBA and reportedly knew lots about marketing.
Just to set the scene...
Throughout the first half of the
day he'd managed to disagree with and antagonise everyone in the room,
including his own business partner.
He was quick to disagree and slow
to explain his reasons why. We'd just started work on the “So What?” exercise
when he said,
“I know what you're doing. You're
trying to help us find our USP. Don't bother, I've already got 73 of 'em.”
I was surprised and impressed but
not convinced, “73 USPs? Are you sure? Tell me about them.”
Silence. The rest of the group were
now all looking at him. He looked back with a look of concentration as
he struggled to remember just one. He finally came back with, “Quality!”
Although I felt uncomfortable for
the man with 73 USPs, I believed it was important to uncover what he really
understood; for his benefit and the benefit of the rest of the group. I
didn't want everyone believing that having so many USPs was a good idea.
So I continued my line of questioning,
“How does quality set you apart as
unique?”
Again, a long pause and then,
“Well, we provide the best quality
solutions to all of our clients.”
I continued with three questions
in rapid succession,
-
“Do you offer a guarantee?”
-
”Are you sure your competitors aren't
saying and delivering the same thing?”
-
“Who are your clients?”
His response to each question was,
-
“No we don't guarantee it, how could
we?”
-
“We don't have any competitors because
what we offer is unique!”
-
“Anyone can benefit from what we do,
so anyone willing to pay is a client!”
As you can see, Mister 73 USPs was in
a tricky spot:
He didn't have one USP let alone
73
The 'USP' he chose was not unique
He had no idea who his competitors
were
73 anythings in branding are usually
72 too many, no wonder he couldn't remember them!
He hadn't even defined his target
as a type of business let alone pin-pointed an individual
He was entrenched with a belief that
he'd seen it all before - this usually limits a person's ability to learn
anything new
Now, I'm known for my ability to
step right beyond the BS and for my edgy and sometimes dangerous manner
with textbook marketers, but he was a delegate, so I swiftly moved on so
that he could save face. I then continued to try and help him personally
during the rest of the workshop but he really wasn't willing to part with
the belief that he had 73 USPs. Nor would he accept that selling to everyone
meant that he wouldn't appeal strongly to anyone.
I don't pretend to be a life coach
(I leave that to people who are good at it) and don't believe it's my job
to change people's beliefs, so at the end of the class, unprompted, I gave
him his course-fee back.
He wasn't going to use our information
and ideas anyway.
So why am I telling you this sad
story? Why, because most textbook marketers, in my experience, really don't
understand USPs. It's just another buzzword they throw at you to sound
clever and important but under the surface their USPs are usually little
more than over-dressed features.
USPs are mythological artefacts that
rarely exist today except in the imaginations of textbook marketers or
the truly inspired.
DPPs - Decisive Power Points
Right, back to the programme... I'd
like you to ignore 'unique' and replace it with 'decisive'.
Decisive is more effective than unique
for a number of reasons:
Unique doesn't necessarily mean favourable
- Decisive does!
If all else is equal your DPP will
tip the scales in your favour - it will be the deciding factor
DPPs work from your client's viewpoint
- they are triggers that help your client decide, not just things that
you think are unique
Decisive is much easier to find and
maintain than Unique
There's an example of our DPP chart
(high and to the right is where you want your benefit to be) on our site
at http://www.debbiejenkins.com/academy-pics/DAY17-dpp-example.gif
The Decisive Power Point chart and
detailed instructions on how to use it is covered thoroughly in our ebook
called Coaching Charisma - Using The Power of Your Brand to Magically Attract
New Business. This 64 page book is a must read for any coach who is struggling
to stand out in the crowd.
Speak Soon
'Dangerous' Debbie Jenkins
About The Author
"Dangerous" Debbie Jenkins is a
speaker, author and stand-up comedian. Get her latest course - "CoachesCan!"
Attract More Clients & Enjoy More Success By Doing & Spending Less
and you can even set your own course fee!
http://www.debbiejenkins.com/coaches/index01.html
debs@debbiejenkins.com
Courtesy of http://www.ArticleCity.com/
