Why USPs Don’t Work

My forthcoming book is the result of over 20 years of looking for better ways for businesses to stand out. It was born over 40 years ago, from the desire of a scared seven-year-old (me!) who needed her mother to give her the attention she craved.

The book will contain a distillation of what I’ve learnt about building stronger emotional connections with your clients and customers, to help your business stand out. It explains the five different Stand Out Strategies that are available for any service business to use. It shows you how to identify which of the five is the one that will make your business stand out. It then suggests how you can use your Stand Out Strategy to make your marketing messages more effective and attract more of your ideal clients. It will also show you how to use it in your customer service, to keep your clients for the long term.

What are the Stand Out Strategies?

Do you have a USP – a unique selling point? Some businesses have a USP that they use to show how they stand out and are totally different from their competitors. However, if you’re promoting a service – time, experience and expertise – it can be very difficult to identify what makes your business really different.

Why? Because your clients base their buying decisions on emotions.

Whatever service you sell, people will buy from you based on the emotions they feel. The majority of our decisions are made emotionally (and subconsciously) and then backed up by rational (conscious) reasoning. This means that, in order to stand out, you have to understand the emotions behind the buying decisions that your clients make. There are five different emotional reasons that people buy a service. I’ve taken these emotional reasons that people buy and have developed them into five strategies that can be used to promote a business. Using one or two of these strategies will allow your business to really stand out from your competitors. This is because you’ll be making emotional connections with your prospects and clients – connections that are aligned with their own personal wants and needs.

These five strategies are my Stand Out Strategies. Each business will have one primary Stand Out Strategy that will make that business stand out, so they can attract new clients. The strategy can also be used to keep those clients.

The Stand Out Strategies are:

1. Certainty – being a safe pair of hands
2. Connection – connecting clients to others they need to know
3. Contribution – helping clients to pay it forward
4. Growth – supporting clients in their personal and professional growth
5. Significance – helping clients to make a bigger impact

For each business, there is one strategy that will really make your business stand out. (Some businesses also have a secondary Stand Out Strategy, but no more than two.)

Which is Your Stand Out Strategy? Take the Test

There are a number of ways you can find out which is the best Stand Out Strategy for your business. The quickest and easiest way is if you?Take the Test on my website. This online version is free and will give you a more accurate result than if you try to guess, due to some clever number crunching that I do.

On the website, you’ll find five lists of emotions and feelings. Take your time and read slowly through the lists. They are emotions that your clients might feel when they’re working with you. If there’s one list of words that resonates?with you more than any others, tick some of the words in that list. If there’s no one list of words that resonates more, tick the emotions that you believe your clients feel, which may be in a number of different lists.

Once you’ve made your selections, complete the rest of the form with your contact details. I’ll email you your results and your Stand Out Strategy. Then, you can start using it in your marketing, to attract more of your ideal clients, more easily. You can also use it in your service delivery, to build long-term relationships with your clients.