Filed Under: Simple Business Plan: Part 6 of 7
We’re in the home stretch now, just one more part after this and you are all done with your Business Plan! In today’s exercise we are going to be discussing your Unique Selling Proposition or USP. Your Unique Selling Proposition is what gets your customers to buy your product instead of your competitor’s.
Before we get to far into it, if you are here for the first time this is part 6 in the series of creating a Business Plan for marketing your offline business online. To get you all caught up, it would be helpful for you to first read:
Business Plan: Goals for Your Website
Business Plan: What is Your Niche Market?
Business Plan: Your Current Numbers?
Here’s the workbook, just in case you need it.
Click here to download the >> Simple Business Plan for Successful Online Marketing Kit.
Then save the document to your computer.
Okey-dokey, let’s roll…
What’s Your Unique Selling Proposition?
Get out that favorite pen, we’re working on Page 12 of the workbook today.
Sometimes defining your Unique Selling Proposition takes a little time, so if you get stuck, just keep brainstorming and you’ll eventually have this buttoned up. To get the ball rolling start writing down a list of features and benefits for your service/product.
Let’s be on the same page as to what “Features” mean. Features are characteristics of your service/product, they are distinctive attributes. Think of features as the things you can see. Examples of features are light-weight, easy to use, no experience necessary, step-by-step, etc.
“Benefits” on the other hand are the way the service/product makes your customer feel. Think of benefits as the things you cannot see. Examples of benefits are taking the stress away, time saving, money saving, provides peace of mind, etc. The benefits are the things you customer really wants, that’s what they are buying.
Get your pad of paper and on the left side list Features of your service/product. Then, on the right list the corresponding benefit of each Feature. If you are someone in your market this will be easier, you will know the and understand the “pain” your service/product satisfies. If you are not you market, all you have to do is do a little research and interview your target market to get an even better idea of how you can help.
Your unique selling proposition is going to accomplish 3 things:
- Differentiate you from your competition
- Get people talking about your service/product
- Grow your business
To build your unique selling proposition you need to take into account 3 basic items that we will develop even further: benefit, differentiation, and the “WOW” factor of your service/product.
Now it’s time to go back to on Page 12 of the workbook and answer these questions:
- What is the benefit of your service/product?
- How is service/product different from your competitors’ offering?
- What makes your service/product something your customers will talk about?
List 3 benefits and then answer the other 2 question as it relates to the benefit. In other words, you will have benefit #1, 2, & 3. Then you will answer how you differ from your competitors for each benefit. And then, you will answer what makes your customers talk for each benefit. So, you will have 3 potential Unique Selling Propositions.
As before, if you have any comments, questions, or good-natured tidbits, share them below.
Next time we are going to your competition.
Thanks for reading,
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