How? Your Unique Selling Proposition

Starting Up Your Business Create Your Entrepreneurial Passport How? Your Unique Selling Proposition

A Unique Selling Proposition (USP) is the factor that differentiates your organization from other providers, and what distinguishes your products and services from their similar offering. When you went through the exercises of the previous topics, you probably already have an idea. What you need now is how to explain that in one sentence. Preferably as creatively as possible. Otherwise you still won’t distinguish yourself. But before we get started with that, let’s look at this model from Neil Patel.

What’s interesting in this model is mainly the check mark and the question mark. That’s what the Unique Selling Point is for. To make clear to a potential customer that you really are different. As the name suggests, a Unique Selling Point is, unique. So saying things that your competitor also says will not help the potential customer to choose you. Things like the statements in the left column the other providers also say, so that alone will not distinguish you.

When going through this exercise, you’re well prepared for one of the following topics: your elevator pitch!

Some Examples of Unique Selling Propositions

“We’re number two, we try harder.” – Avis
What is nice about the above USP is that Avis here turns something negative, into something positive. After all, they are not a market leader, so why should they behave this way?

“You get fresh, hot pizza delivered to your door in 30 minutes or less or it’s free.” – Domino’s Pizza
Quite a long Unique Selling Point but he does say exactly what it says. They could also have said “We are the fastest”, but that in itself is not distinctive.

“Find a lower price and we’ll match it.” – Bestbuy.com
Not a unique one in itself, but a clear way to say you are the cheapest, without coming across as standard.

“With every pair you purchase, TOMS will give a pair of new shoes to a child in need. One for One” – TOMS Shoes
When you do good for the world, it certainly doesn’t hurt to say so. It creates sympathy and allows you to charge higher prices. It makes you unique from your competitors.

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