You might have the best product in the world, but this does not mean it will sell itself. The chances are you have heard the term “build it and they will come”. In the world of sales this saying translates to “if you make it, it will sell”. It is a wonderful dream, but more often than not it does not work this way.
Times Have Changed.
While a great product might have sold itself decades ago. You must remember that in those days there were not many products around; the chances then were if you made a great product, it would sell. This was simply due to the fact that products were expensive to bring to market. The “build it and they will come” analogy does not hold true today; especially with the speed and technology that is used to spread consumer products on a global scale today. We live in a world that is far faster than ever before.
These days having a better product does not mean that the product will bring in sales as it did in days gone by. In the days of “build it and will come”, people were not swamped with tons of advertising; anything new or better was easily noticed because there was not much competition.
Today, if you have a better coffee pot, investment plan or even a car that runs on a few drops of water, you will need to overcome consumer skepticism and create careful marketing campaigns to get noticed.
Get The Word Out.
To sell enough of your product or service so that you can see a profit you need to get the word out to your customers in a way that will catch their attention. You need to convey the benefits of your new product in such a way that people will want to purchase your brand over the other hundreds, thousands or even millions of competitors offering a version of the same thing.
It is vital that you learn how to make your product or service stand out in a crowded marketplace. People are not easily sold; you have to convince them that your product or service is different, better and extraordinary. In order to do this you must have a Unique Selling Proposition (UPS) and you must be prepared to tell them all about it.
Stress The Benefits Not The Features.
We spoke about this previously, but it bears mentioning again. It does not help if you keep talking about the features of your product or service or how good your company is. When you are trying to stand out in a crowded marketplace don’t just focus on the features of your product or service and expect them to sell. Focus on what your product/service can do for your customer.
The key questions on your prospects mind are:
- Why should we bring our business to you over your shiny new competitor down the street?
- What can you do for me that they can’t?
Having a Unique Selling Proposition (UPS) can answer these questions, which at their most basic is simply “What can you offer that sets you apart from all the others available?”
Unique Selling Proposition (UPS) Myths.
There are a few misconceptions about Unique Selling Propositions that often prevents entrepreneurs from taking the effort required to create them. Let us look at these Myths.
Cast in stone
Many people think that a UPS once created is cast in stone. This is not the case, brands evolve over time and some companies actually have multiple UPSs. This does not mean you need to chop and change your UPS all the time. You can however try the different options in order to find the one that has the most impact.
One UPS
As mentioned above, a company could have multiple UPSs, in fact each product/service should have its own UPS. This UPS should be on all marketing for that product/service.
UPSs are Long
UPSs are essentially slogans and are often used. Domino’s slogan used to be “Hot pizza to your door in 30 minutes or it’s free.” This slogan clearly expressed the unique proposition that Domino’s had to offer that other pizza companies did not.
As you can see, the UPS does not have to be long, complex or hard to do.
Steps to Creating your own UPS.
The great news is that if you have been following the issues we have been dealing with, you have done the hardest part of creating your own UPS.
Step 1: Determine Your Target Audience
We have already determined that knowing your target audience is essential for great sales. Now, write down a list of what you know about your target audience.
Step 2: How Does Your Product/Service Solve A Problem
Make a list of all the ways your product/service can solve problems your target audience experiences. If you have more than one product/service, do each product/service separately. You will now have a list that states a problem you solve and how you solve it.
Step 3: Check The Competition
Your UPS should be unique. Ideally it should be something your competitors are not and cannot do, but sometimes it can be something that your competitors are not claiming they can do. Take the list you made in Step 2 and check if any of your competitors are already using any of them. Mark the ones that are already being used, by whom and how they are making the claim.
Step 4: Choose The Ones You Are Best At
You should now be left with a few that are not being claimed by competitors. If not, go back to Step 1 and 2 until you have a list of options not being claimed. Of the ones remaining, choose the ones you and your business are especially good at. It is great to have more than one option at this stage.
Step 5: Build Your Promise
Write down each potential UPS as a promise/guarantee. One of the easiest ways to do this is to remove the ‘how you do it’ part you included in the list you created in Step 2. For example if one of your UPSs is that you use a specific ingredient/feature that makes teeth whiter and brighter you could say ‘Get brighter and whiter teeth’.
Your UPS should clearly provide only one benefit. It should also be memorable and appeal directly to the target audience you determined in Step 1.
While you exclude the how part from your final UPS, you need to keep the how available for marketing material. While the UPS stands out and is the focus, you need to be able to advise how you are going to deliver on what your UPS promises when asked.
Step 6: Get Feedback
If you have more than one UPS, get some feedback of which one would work best. Do a survey or run split testing. If you are only left with one UPS think about different ways you could state it and run testing on which one would work the best for your target audience.
Step 7: Implement
Amend all your marketing material to reflect your UPS and add it as a slogan to your business or the particular product/service.
Don’t forget to revise and improve your UPS when required.
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