These days—especially with all the competition on the Web—if you want people to buy from you instead of the other guy, you’d better give 'em a darn good reason to do so. Otherwise they probably won't.
And saying you have "great customer service" isn’t going to do the trick. Everyone says that, and so few deliver on it, that this little promise has lost its luster.
Convenience is a possibility. But you better make sure you really are more convenient than your competition.
Ditto experience. While experience is never bad, chances are your competition has plenty of it, too. So unless you have specific expertise, this may not convince people to buy from you either.
You could try to be the cheapest. But there’s probably someone on the Internet who can beat your prices. So this can be a slippery slope straight into a money-losing pit.
That’s why the best way to convince people to buy from you is to offer something people can get only if they purchase from you. Marketers refer to this as your Unique Selling Proposition , or USP .
How Do You Identify a Killer USP?
Unless you own a franchise, chances are good there’s something unique about your business, products, services, methods or results because you are unique. So, often your USP is staring you right in the face.
Try asking yourself these questions:
- "Why should someone buy from me instead of my competition?"
- "What is different—or better—about my products, services, business, methods, or the results.
Author: Stacy Karacostas
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