A successful marketing plan should focus on one thing – your customer – and this article shows you how to do just that. We’re going to find the answer to “Why Should I Buy From You?” Some folks say “What’s in it for me?” It’s the same idea.
Obviously, you have a product or service that you want to share with other people. A lot of other people. And you’re considering the idea of writing a marketing plan so you can reach more people that want to buy your product or service.
You’ve been doing some research reading books and articles like this to find out how to plan your marketing. In your reading, you keep hearing about the importance of a great Unique Selling Proposition or USP.
Now, you want to know how to create that USP for your own product or service.
I understand exactly. Keep reading; you might find the approach presented in this article a bit different than the previous advice you have received.
Maybe you’re confused about exactly what a USP is. I don’t know anyone who wasn’t a little confused at first. I suppose you may have tried to create your own USP already and found that it just didn’t connect with you customers the way you thought it would. Pretty frustrating, isn’t it?
Consider this – maybe you’ve been looking for customer love in all the wrong places. Have you thought of simply asking your customers why they do business with you?
I believe you and your staff could have spent hours burning the midnight oil trying to create a concise statement that explains your product or service and the benefits it delivers. You brainstormed every possible benefit for every feature. It looked so simple when you saw Domino’s and FedEx’s USPs.
Perhaps it would have worked better if you had reviewed the testimonials your customers have given you. Maybe your customers told a staff member why they like your business. Did you ask your staff that question?
After pulling an all-nighter full of brain sweat, caffeine, and pizza, dawn brought you face to face with the cold reality – your USP could work just as well for any of a dozen of your competitors. It wasn’t unique.
Now, you just want a simple common sense way to figure out how to answer your prospect’s question, “Why should I buy from you?”
Try this: Look through your customer correspondence files. You want to find where you let them down or didn’t meet their expectations. You might even find a few complements where they told you what you did right.
Also, ask your staff to share things your customers have said to them during their buying experience – good and bad.
And you, the CEO, Big Kahuna, or Top Dog, take your top ten clients/customers to lunch. Take one person each day for the next two weeks. Ask them straight up, “Are we performing as you expect us to?” and “How can I improve my performance for you?” Take notes! Or use a micro-recorder. It will tell your customer you are serious about his business.
You have your answers. All you have to do now is order more pizza, put on a fresh pot of coffee and call a staff meeting. Go through everything you learned about what your customers want and expect. List everything they wanted that you didn’t provide. Make a list of what they like best.
Stir well and keep the focus of your discussions on the customers’ desires. They just told you why they buy from you. Wrap it up in a concise pithy sentence and tell you prospects why they should buy from you, too.
One last thing: take those lame “Visions” and Mission Statements” off the walls and replace them with your USP. That is the reason you’re in business.
