Should we focus on the Unique SELLING Proposition or the Unique BUYING Proposition?
We have all heard about Unique Selling Proposition in marketing and selling our products and services.
A Unique Selling Proposition (USP, also seen as unique selling point) is a factor that differentiates a product from its competitors (eg. lowest cost, the highest quality or the first-ever product of its kind).
I have a strict standard, to always have a clear USP. One needs to focus on being in the winning zone as shown below. USP is very similar to UVP — Unique Value proposition — a clear statement that describes the benefit of your offer and how you solve your customers needs better than others.
Recently, a friend challenged me with a question: Do people like to be Sold?
86% of the world population prefer to buy then to be sold.
After some pondering, the answer that i got was NO! We buy because we first believe in the value and benefit that we can get from the product or service. So I started studying the theory of UBP — Unique Buying Proposition / UBA — Unique Buying Advantage. UBP focuses on the buyers want to hear from the marketers and in the definition of UNIQUE, how it will benefit the buyer in a way where the competitors cannot.
WHY will our prospect buy from us? HOW can we help our customer to buy the product or service so that we can be of value to them?
Before detailing my process to help our customers, it is important understand what is our Buyer Persona. Who are they? What role do they play and more importantly, what Goals do they have to achieve? What are some of the challenges they face that you can help them with. Only after clarifying this, then can you build a comprehensive messaging strategy that will work.
A buyer persona is a semi-fictional representation of your ideal customer based on market research and real data about your existing customers. When creating your buyer persona(s), consider including customer demographics, behaviour patterns, motivations, and goals. The more detailed you are, the better.
Before launching your sales and marketing campaign, don’t just think of your USP and Ideal Customer Profile, correlate it back to the buyer’s persona and journey. What is your UBP based on your buyers’ Persona and communicate the value that you can offer based on what and how they like to be communicated.
