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If You Can't Communicate Your Difference, You'll Die!

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Written by J. Craig Mecham

Friday, 04 April 2008

by J.CraigMecham

This article will explain why a Unique Selling Position (USP) is critical to your success. Your marketing exists in a confusing and complex world. Think for a minute about how many choices you have as a consumer in just about any product category. Its not unusual to have dozens, if not hundreds or even thousands of alternatives when you're shopping for a product or service.

If you doubt me, just jump on the Internet and see how many businesses would love to sell you a pair of shoes or a briefcase or a shirt. My guess is that your alternatives could number in the thousands.

Isn't that how it should be? You're bound to like it if you're the consumer. But those of us who make a living marketing products and services will find it a challenge. What is a marketer to do in order to survive?

If Your Advertising Doesn't Make You Different, You've Missed the Mark. The first thing your advertising must do is show your customer how you're different from everyone else. I was consulting with a small business client the other day and we went to the yellow pages for her product category and saw a perfect example of how advertising should not be done..

There were pages upon pages of ads. They all had one thing in common. They were so much the same that you could have substituted one company name for another without changing the ad in the slightest.

This was obviously a problem for all those companies--but an opportunity for my client! He (or she) who differentiates--wins!

When there are no apparent differences customers will decide based on price. So what happens when customers are faced with hundreds of choices and dont see any difference between one business and another? The only thing left to compare is price, so that's how they make their choice. If you haven't shown that you're different, price will be the deciding factor for your customers too. That's not the best thing for you and your business, and this might surprise you, but it's not good for your customer either--especially if your value is best recognized by establishing a long-term relationship with the customer. Business you get because you have the best price will go somewhere else as soon as they find a lower price. You may be the fastest gun in the West. But no matter how fast you are, there's always someone faster. That's a dangerous game. It's much safer to differentiate.

You can command higher prices through differentiation. Companies who effectively differentiate themselves from their competitors can demand higher prices for their products or services. The lowest price is not always the winner. Think about this for a minute. You don't always buy the lowest price. Even if you're the world's biggest cheapskate you can differentiate between bruised and fresh vegetables and you'll pay the higher price for the fresh produce. Right?

Are your customers any different? No. Certainly, you must have a reasonable price, but if you have highlighted an important difference in your product or service, customers will pay extra to have that benefit.

So, your key to increased sales, happier customers and increased profits is to simply find the thing which makes you different from your competitors and make certain you're getting that message out in your advertising.

About the Author:

The author, Craig Mecham, is the founder of of The Mecham Company The Mecham Company, a marketing consulting firm. With 25 years success in Business to Business Marketing and promotions, Mr. Mecham advises national and international business.