"Why The USP Doesn't Work Anymore & What To Do Instead"

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"Why The USP Doesn't Work Anymore & What To Do Instead"

- by "Dangerous" Debbie Jenkins

(c) Debbie Jenkins. All Rights Reserved.
http://www.debbiejenkins.com

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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

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 many 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. Too many "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.

So What Should You Be Aiming For?
Right, back to the programme... I'd like you to ignore
'unique' and replace it with 'decisive'. I call this the
Decisive Power Point (DPP).

A "Decisive Power Point" is more effective than a "Unique
Selling Point" for a number of reasons:

- Unique doesn't necessarily mean favourable to the person
choosing - 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.
- A decisive difference is much easier to find and maintain
than a unique one.

So, don't settle for unique! Be decisive!

NOTE: An example of the DPP chart can be found here...
http://www.debbiejenkins.com/academy-pics/DAY17-dpp-
example.gif
Your goal is to have a benefit that is higher and further to
the right than three of your best competitors.

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