The Unique Selling Position (USP)

The Unique Selling Position (USP) – How Brand and Benefits Fulfill Customer Needs



This is the key marketing program for small advising business to compete with larger firms. Define your market niche, and then use your USP to fulfill needs in that niche.



You have gone through special training, maybe even achieved accreditation or certification in a given field. You may even have a Brand. How do you transfer your skills, your education, your training (your benefit package (BP)) to develop a marketing program that communicates how your unique benefits fulfill your target market’s needs? It’s by developing your USP that communicates your benefits. How do you develop an USP? First we have to understand what a need is and how your USP communicates that your BP will fulfill those needs.



The “Holy Grail” of marketing is called a need. Needs are internal human drives that force humans to seek specific “things” to reduce the force of the drive. All services and products have elements called benefits that are the key to satisfying needs. Marketing is the science and art of matching benefits to target market needs.



The matching of benefits to needs is the primary function of any business. Until recently marketing was often thought of as a division or function within a firm. Many firms are now considered marketing driven firms. The recognized leading scholars in the marketing discipline now consider that the sole reason for the existence of a free market firm or organization is to deliver goods and services whose benefits match the needs of the market place. Understand that this implies that all resources of an organization/firm are committed to this action.



What is a need? Perhaps one of the best needs models is that of Abraham Maslow. Maslow developed a model known as the “hierarchy of needs”. There are many other needs models, but Maslow’s model has stood the test of time in social science literature. It has as its basis five different level of needs.



These five levels of needs are: physiological needs, safety needs, social needs, esteem needs, and self-actualization needs. You might find it useful to look up Maslow on the net and become more familiar with this theory if you have not been exposed to it. This is another good model to keep handy and ask yourself “my BP most important benefit satisfies what need level (s)”.





Marketing has developed significant tools to discriminate product benefits. These are used a predictive models for market acceptance. What does it mean to match a benefit to a need? It means that some form of communication from the organization seeking to deliver a good or service convinces the intended target market that the product/service will indeed satisfy the markets need.



Some benefits of particular products are so strongly related to needs that little “marketing” communication is needed. Gasoline for your car. Milk, bread, and toilet paper at the super market. Insulin for diabetics and antivenin for snake bite victims. Some of these items are commodities - meaning that price is often the key selling point. Some are specialty items that are so import that quality is more important than price, but the price/value ratio can also be important in these products.



Marketing communications are often highly visible elements in the marketing mix of a firm. Yet there are other marketing elements such as product quality and channels of distribution that can change the markets perception of how well the product’s benefits meets its needs.



Your BP is a unique set of benefits. No one else has the same exact BP. The best place to start developing your USP for you BP is your resume. The small business advisory services should be a relationship driven business. The development of customer loyalty should be a target of every small business advisor.



Step 1 – Translate You BP into A USP



With your resume in front of you, ask yourself – what specific things did I do that I was very good at? Each person is different but here are some examples:

• I was very good at evaluating Cost of Goods Sold analysis which translates into pricing model development for small business
• I was very good at evaluating staffing for operations which translates into reviewing employee expense levels for small businesses
• I was very good at building sales organizations which translates into building a sales model for small business
• I was a CFO which translates into I can build income/expense and balance sheets to help small business owners become professional managers
• I was a successful operations manager which translates into, I can help you build your process so they easily expand when you do (scalability)

Each accomplishment on your resume represents an element(s) in your BP that you need to translate in the benefit that fulfills the needs commonly found in small business. That is focus of our USP development package. In a two one hour sessions we help you determine your BP and then help you create your USP and suggest how to integrate it into your marketing program.



From Rolling 10 letters to newsletters to your website, the development of your USP will communicate your brand and how your benefits will fulfill needs for small business. At the same time it will give you focus for you niche markets and raise the productivity of your marketing program.

Challenge No. 9: Knowing How to Compete

"My best advice for competing successfully is to find your own distinctive niche in the marketplace. It could be price, or variety, or service . . . whatever it is, stick to it."



To keep customers and add new ones, owners stress the value of knowing how to compete. They have learned through experience that there is a difference between "just plain competing" - for example, relying on low prices - and knowing how to compete effectively. Owners believe that competitive savvy means being true to what made them successful in the first place - keeping the integrity of their original vision, growing strategically, and above all, using their strengths as leverage in the marketplace. All this is achieved while keeping an ever-vigilant eye on what the "other guys" are doing.



Again and again, owners stress the value of adhering to their original plan. "My goal is to make my business profitable without compromising our values," stated one toy retailer.



To achieve his goal, the retailer concentrates on his distinctive niche. "People come to us because they like our personal service," he explained, "but sometimes they only have so much money to spend. We have overcome this by becoming more of a specialty store."



Owners sometimes struggle to uphold their commitment in the face of stiff competition - but they find that maintaining the integrity of their idea and focusing on their strengths are the best long-term competitive strategy:



"I've seen our industry going through price-cutting that is absolutely staggering," noted a construction equipment lessor, "but I have not participated in it. Yet I have grown and prospered and make a nice profit, and we are consistently the highest-priced people in the marketplace. In the long run our quality shows our customers that we are the cheapest to do business with. You spend an awful lot of agonizing evenings and days trying to decide whether to participate in the price-cutting game - do you try to just gain market share and kill the competitors? If you have a quality product, you probably will kill your business at the same time. It takes guts and commitment to withstand that, to rally your sales staff around you and say, 'we are not the cheapest, but we are going to be the best.'"



To keep capitalizing on their strengths while sales increase, most owners set a goal for controlled growth.



"You can grow too fast," noted a contractor. "You don't want to take on more projects that you can complete. And, you don't want to take on more than you can finance."



How do owners expand their customer base? Most rely on a variety of methods. Eventually, they develop a mix of keeping their sales staff motivated and marketing effectively.



"You learn better sales and motivational techniques," said one wholesaler. "Make sure your people continue to learn new ways of selling." Effective marketing involves communicating the benefits of your product or service to obtain new customers. Owners rely on a variety of methods, usually tailored to what works best for their particular business.



"Word of mouth is big," said one retailer. "We live in a community that is pretty good about passing on the good word." This owner also used advertising and the yellow pages to keep his name out in front of the market. In general, he advised to "find what works and stay with that." Those who could afford it found value in tapping the expertise of outside marketing consultants.



Of course, effective marketing inevitably includes being aware of your competitors' activities. "You have to be very cognitive of the competition and what they're doing," noted an automotive glass replacement shop owner. A businesswoman explained that "knowing where you stand relative to your competition allows you to position your own product in relation to the market" - referring back to the theme of knowing where your strengths are and capitalizing on them.



It is at this point that pricing does become an issue for small business owners. Inherent in the concept of small business is that you cannot discount on low volume - so to make a profit while being price-competitive, owners advise that you establish an identity, stick to it, and communicate it.



"What do you give your customers that your competitors do not," asked one successful owner, "and what is that extra something worth to your customers? That's the whole concept of value-added services, and that's how you establish your prices."



"To get higher prices," advised another entrepreneur, "do something different that no one else is doing."

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Challenge No. 8: Satisfying Customers by Providing High Quality

First and foremost, recommend owners, commit yourself to providing quality. This establishes and maintains credibility with your customers.

"You must be willing to commit yourself to supplying the absolute best product of the industry you go into. Not being an also-ran but telling yourself, 'I am going to throw a touchdown every time I open the doors in the morning.'"

Deliver the best possible product or service and do everything you can to ensure that your customers are satisfied. This is the creed by which small business owners everywhere live. Upholding it is a constant challenge.

Another business owner put it in direct terms: "Your customers are going to dictate whether or not you are going to succeed. If you don't please them and if you don't listen to them, you won't succeed."

"My theory in business," explained one owner, "is if I do a good job for you, I hope you tell one or two of your friends. If I do a lousy job for you, you're going to tell everyone you see. Never forget that you have competition."

It's important to build and develop credibility because it builds your business. Yet, as one owner stated, "Growth and reputation are the hardest things to come by."

The owner of an interstate trucking company explained that "the one common thread through every type of business is people. It's still a people's business. You'd better have credibility. You'd better have the talent to do what you're supposed to do, first of all, but that's only just a part of it. Get credibility and maintain that credibility. Know that the people you're servicing are going to say good things about you to other people - because that's how you're going to build your business."

This commitment to quality is indeed vital. Just look at how seriously small business owners take it: "Make sure your quality of work is still top-notch and has been from start-up. Make sure you haven't slid or suffered, that your name and your recognized quality are still there," advised one.

Customers are the foundation of your business. Thus, it is absolutely essential to do everything possible to please them. Often, initiating dialogues with customers can be of enormous value in helping to provide better service. "We wanted to evaluate the reputation of the company we purchased," explained a printer, "so we went directly to clients to find out exactly what they thought about it."

"The response was tremendous," he continued. "They'd never had someone who really cared enough about their business to ask them how they wanted the products produced for them. That feedback on a direct basis with my other partners was invaluable. It turned things around for us."

Small business owners find that quality is still the best way to please customers. "Make that product better than anybody else can," advised an owner. "Do the best job that you possibly can."

As a business grows, it's important to maintain quality - but when sales begin to increase, it can be a major challenge to keep the original commitment to the quality and benefits of your product. Thus, most businesses set a goal for controlled growth.

"Whatever credibility you may have built up on your reputation or your performance suffers if you've got more work than you can handle," offered an owner. "You can't properly perform it. You can't properly manage it. Your work starts getting shoddy. That will destroy quite a bit of effort you've put into getting there."

Sometimes satisfying customer requires taking extraordinary measures, but owners believe it's the best way to maintain their reputation and protect their business.

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Challenge No. 7: Managing People

"A positive representation of your business has to do mostly with your employees. My employees have to know what my goals are and what type of service or image we want to portray to the community."

Finding, keeping, and managing good personnel, both hourly employees and management, ranks among the major challenges for small businesses. Many owners believe that it is critical to success. An owner who recommended, "Make sure you have good employees before opening your doors", expressed their thoughts.

"I would suspect that almost every one of us failed to recognize that at some point you need to support yourself with good people," disclosed another. "Surround yourself with competent support people."

Finding qualified employees can be a real challenge. For example, in addition to competing with larger companies for business, small business owners find that they must also compete with each other when it comes to hiring good employees. "One of the big challenges facing relatively small businesses like us," noted an owner, "is attracting the best talent we can get. For small companies to get somebody good, they've got to offer a lot." Another owner explained that "it's difficult competing against the big guys who have lower costs of doing business."

Nonetheless, small business owners believe in their ability to compete for good employees because they can offer some benefits that big companies cannot - such as flexible schedules, loyalty and other intangible benefits.

The road to building a competent staff is often paved with challenges. Many small business owners find it difficult to select the right employees. Retaining good help is particularly difficult. The owner of a civil engineering firm hit the nail on the head: "It's very hard to keep people who are loyal to you and who want to put the hours in. Otherwise, they'd be in their own business."

Motivating employees through encouragement and guidance helps to build and retain a competent staff. Here, too, a realistic and supportive attitude can help meet the challenge:

"Getting the help to believe in themselves in tough," explained an owner. "I say, 'Look, we're only human and we're all going to make mistakes. Let's just hope that the mistakes you make don't cost us a heck of a lot of money. I make some big mistakes myself. You've just got to accept the mistake and turn it into a positive.' Showing people that settles everyone down and gets them to believe in themselves."

Motivating employees to consistently deliver quality is critical to business success, particularly for a service business. Owners must communicate their goals effectively and train their employees to help achieve these goals. All this requires a delicate balance act.

"You must have people who are qualified or train them to be qualified," explained one owner. "They have to be well paid, not overpaid. And, you have to take care of your employees."

Another owner explained that he spent time on establishing a positive and responsible attitude in his staff. "Establish that in their minds first," he advised.

Generally, owners rely on employee training to ensure that their staff is competent and has the right attitude. For instance one owner said, "one of the things that can help is an internal education program and a proper training program. Also, have a quality assurance review of what you're doing before the product goes out the door."

Compensation is a second effective method to motivate employees into conveying a positive attitude and working responsibly. As you might expect, many owners find this a particular challenge. While small businesses typically do not have the resources to pay high wages, they need to adequately compensate employees in order to attract and retain them.

"Be sure that you can pay decent salaries to the people you hire so that they'll stay with you and help the business grow,: advised a retailer.

Benefits are another important way to attract and retain good employees. A fair and generous benefits package helps employees feel both valued and secure - - two important characteristics that small business owners feel they can offer to their employees. Even the smallest of businesses can offer such benefits through group programs.

Being creative with intangible benefits is another effective way to retain employees. A bookstore owner recommended that you "figure out other ways to compensate them. We give them special discounts on what they buy within the store. Also, I try to be flexible about their hours."

When an employee doesn't work out, then what? Many owners find this one of the most challenging aspects of the business. Often, the difficulty of firing an employee leads owners to retain weak players longer than they should. As explained by one owner, "You have that instinct that they are not going to make it. When do you get rid of them? You keep them too long. I've run into that."

"It's the hardest thing in the world," said another. However, you are doing the employee a favor as well as your business when you suggest that such a person will be better suited to another job if he or she doesn't fit.

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Challenge No. 5: Managing Finances Effectively

Challenge No. 5: Managing Finances Effectively

From the start of a company ... "You know, the first year you're just trying to keep the doors open. You're a one-man operation so you're kind of close to everything...I always thought, gosh, more sales, you're in hog heaven."... To managing growth...

"But managing growth is almost as tough, if not tougher than, start-up. If you don't have enough working capital, increased sales can really give you a problem because of the (increased) receivables, because of the commitments (to suppliers) coming due before the money comes in. "...cash flow is the pervasive financial management issue for small business owners. It manifests itself in ongoing capital, managing inventory, extending credit to customers and managing accounts receivable.

Many small businesses struggle just to make ends meet, especially during the start-up period. A "hand-to-mouth" existence often continues beyond the first year. Often, a little juggling is required:

"I looked at the checkbook this morning and it didn't look real healthy, and I know Friday's payday. I do have a little job we can start tomorrow, weather providing, and I know I'll make enough off that job plus what I already have to make payroll this week. Then I'll put off another job that I probably shouldn't, because it's a job that I know I won't get paid for within thirty days."

Inventory is a pivotal area for non-service business. "You maintain your profit margins by turning your inventory quicker," explained a sporting goods distributor.

The key to success is maintaining good inventory, the appropriate amount and a good mix of merchandise. "Don't keep any dead inventory around," continued the same retailer. "If you've got bad merchandise, get rid of it. Keep a clean inventory, a saleable inventory." The ideal thing is to be able to turn your inventory more often.

Careful control will also help. "To help cash flow," explained a different owner, "I monitored my inventory as carefully as I could."

Another challenge to successful financial management is extending credit to customers -- a necessary part of many businesses. Customers often expect it. However, many owners find it difficult to evaluate the credit risk of potential customers. One suggested "looking at their financial statement, and then trying to make a good decision." Another thought is a good idea to evaluate risk based on the amount of potential business: "If a guy wants work done, yes, I'm going to check him out."

Monitoring accounts receivable to assure a steady cash flow is a universal concern of small business owners. "Cash flow's the biggest problem," said one owner. "If you can't keep track of your receivables and follow upon them, you'll always have a cash flow problem.

Cash flow is also an area where the experts are full of helpful advice: "Keep a close eye on your receivables. Don't let them go too far out. I've got suppliers that give me 30 days and on the 31st day, they'll call. Stay on top of who owes you money and don't let it slide. You don't want to make more sales, necessarily; you want to get paid for what you sell first."

"The basic thing we did was to make sure that when a job was completed, the invoice was out in the mail the next day. We also followed the job through to make sure there weren't any problems. Using this two-step approach, our receivables usually came within the terms of a normal 30-day period. This kept our cash flow steady."

Many small business owners use professional services to help manage the financial aspects of their businesses. Accountants are the most frequently relied-upon advisors; many businesses also tap the expertise of a lawyer, especially when incorporating their business or purchasing an existing one.

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Challenge No. 6: Managing Time Efficiently

The long hours and variety of tasks required managing a small business demand good time management skill. Every small business owner feels stretched, especially during start-up. Running any kind of business involves many different responsibilities and little time in which to fulfill them. This is a continual challenge that is especially taxing during start-up. A pharmaceutical consultant summarized the problem:

"When you're starting off, you're doing everything yourself. You have to be a part of everything that's going on. You have to be at every point of the operation ... the challenge is while you're working on your business, you're not spending time working on cash flow, attending to business management or planning for the future."

A contractor gave a more personal picture of the long hours required to keep a business running: "When I started out, I was out running the equipment trying to get the job done, but I was also out beating on doors and passing out cards, talking to people at 10:00, 11:00 at night and trying to line up the next day's work. There are only so many hours in a day."

The freedom to delegate responsibilities to people who can fulfill them is important to small business owners, who often find their time stretched to the limit. "One of my top pieces of advice to an aspiring young business owner is to surround yourself with good people," said one successful owner.

Another owner said that when he "bought an existing business, I came from a corporate atmosphere. The first thing I put on my list was to delegate. Hire the best, most qualified people you can, whatever the area is; and then delegate. Give them the responsibility, as much responsibility as you can."

Stores are full of books on time management, and indeed, small business owners reported that this is one of their favorite topics. Some owners reported that they also attended time management seminars.

Based on the input of owners, telephone calls and appointments are two key areas of time management. Several owners reported that they group their calls during specific times of the day - first thing in the morning, right before lunch, and at about 5:00; people are most likely to be in their offices during these times.

The owner of an advertising agency who spends substantial time on the road and in clients' offices, said that she schedules groups of appointments wherever possible. She has disciplined herself to set aside Mondays and Wednesdays for appointments and uses the other three days to be in her office. "By sticking to this schedule as much as possible," she said, "clients know when they can reach me. Also, I can schedule work more efficiently."

Another successful technique that many owners use is referring back to their business plan. This helps them set priorities and ensures that they spend their time where it will be used most effectively.

The penalties for not using time wisely can be stiff. Many owners reported that they knew of many businesses that had failed because the owner hadn't "worked the hours." At best, inefficient time management can prevent a company from running smoothly and cost-effectively.

Owners summarize their time-management methods in a three-point plan:

Be disciplined about your time. Making a business successful demands your time. Again and again, owners stressed the importance of putting in the hours. Stick to your original plan. When in doubt about where to put your time, check your business plan for priorities.

If you have the opportunity, delegate responsibilities to those who can fulfill them.

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Challenge No. 4: Having Adequate Capital

Here are some thoughts on “Adequate Capital” to consider in developing a business plan:

"The first thing we did was to establish financing and credit relationships. Make a bank contact. A lot of our successes have been dependent on that relationship."

"Establish a good working relationship with one or more banks early in the game. There's always a large contract that comes up when you need working capital."

 "Have enough capital to withstand slow periods and competition ... all of those things that nobody told you were going to be there. Many people go into small businesses who have enough capital or enough assets to open the doors -- but not enough to withstand the pressure from competition and accounts receivable during all of that first year."

 Small business owners concur that having sufficient capital is essential to surviving the first year, which inevitably brings unforeseen challenges.

How much should you capitalize? Based on the experience of others, you should count on obtaining more than you think necessary: "Double your estimates of the cash you need to have during the first year," advised a retailer.

 

"Look at whatever you're going to do," advised another, "and then look at the worst possible thing that could happen. Prepare for the worst case scenario. Borrow twice as much as you think you're going to need. Or, have access to that amount."

 Credit lines are an important part of capitalizing a new venture, as indicated by some of the business owners quoted at the beginning of this section. A line of credit enables a company to meet ongoing capital requirements or to capitalize on business opportunities.

 However, obtaining credit from suppliers can be difficult for the new company. "In starting out a small company, you may have to pay cash for a while."

 To help tell their business story to potential creditors, many small business owners find maintaining a business credit report on their company helpful. "It gives you a standing in the community to be rated," believed one owner. In addition, owners recognize the value of keeping their company's report current.

 This difficulty in establishing credit is only temporary. "After they've done business with you for a while," assured the same owner, "they'll start giving you terms."

 Some small business owners perceive that suppliers are becoming even more discriminating about extending credit, demanding detailed financial information even from established customers. One way to meet this challenge, say owners, is to form basic business partnerships with bankers, local vendors, and Dun & Bradstreet, to keep your company's business information report as accurate as possible. Nothing is as important as to “Know Your Banker”.

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