What is a U.S.P?
USP stands for a unique selling proposition. It’s a vital part of any business that wants to grow their sales efficiently and effectively with marketing. It’s a clear and concise message that instantly differentiates you from your competition. It explains to a potential customer, in a small amount of words, why you are the option to go with and not a fellow competitor.
Don’t be a “me too” business
The main thing to focus on when crafting your USP is to avoid creating something that doesn’t separate you from the competition. The entire point of a USP is to make you stand out from any other company.
Think: if you saw your USP without your name or logo on it, would people be able to identify it as you?
Your USP should instantly communicate to a customer:
- Why you are different.
- Why you are worth your prices.
- How you decided what you do is valuable.
If your USP is too generic, or too wishy-washy, you will limit how effectively you are able to communicate with your customers via your marketing. So it’s important to get it right.
But... my landscaping business isn’t unique!
It’s a common response. Landscaping is landscaping, how can I be unique from my competitors and their landscaping service? The truth is, anything can be unique if you sit down and think deeply about what you offer that’s different to your competitors. A customer will have a different experience if they go with your company than a cowboy company, so what exactly is the unique selling proposition that clearly illustrates to a client how different the experience will be?
Think about it, coffee is a widely used commodity. Most of us wont even blink after spending £3-£4 on a Starbucks coffee, but coffee can be bought at a garage, or burger van for £1. Why are we happy to spend 300%-400% more on coffee, when effectively it’s the same commodity. There is a way the big coffee chops and chains are communicating with you to make you happy to do this, and it all starts with a USP.
To start crafting a USP that separates you from the crowd, ask yourself this question: “If I removed my name and logo from my website, would I still look unique?” If not, your USP needs to be more work.
Good quality and great service is my USP…
Having a USP of some description is better than not having one. But not all USPs are created equal - obviously. The major one that you see dotted about is “Our work is the best quality around” or “our customer service is second-to-none” Whilst these are USPs, they are unfortunately, bad ones. They are generic & useless. Sorry if this upsets you!
But importantly, they are only relevant after the sale or service has started, it doesn’t encourage your potential clients to buy from you. A good USP shouldn’t have any bearing on how happy they will be once they have already purchased.
These days, good quality and good service is an expectation of all business. There are so many services and businesses out there, that there will always be businesses that offer a good service in a competition for the same job. While some cowboys may be pricing up the same job as you, there is also like to be companies that are a decent outfit that you need to compete with. Good quality is an expectation, and your USP needs to highlight beyond that, why your offering is the one they should go for.
Developing your first USP “Draft”
Now you know the theory being a good USP, we should start to create one for yourselves. Here, we are going to focus on a landscaping business (of course!) and go through the motions with you. So hopefully you can see how you can craft your very own.
Start by asking yourself two key questions:
- Why should your client buy the service, generally.
- Why should they buy the service specifically from you.
If you can answer these questions without resorting to “good quality”, “great service”, or “best price”, then you’ll be well on your way to crafting a successful one.
A good USP needs to be clear and concise when explaining what sets you apart, and it can even be weird and wonderful, as long as you don’t waffle. A weird USP can really set you apart.
So think, why should your client buy the type of landscaping you offer, in general. If you offer general landscaping, focus on this, but if you offer a specific or specialised service (which you should), then you need to think in terms of this. Lets give this a go:
Why should a client buy general landscaping services? - treating your garden as an extra room of your house can add value to your property.
Why should a client buy YOUR general landscaping services? - we are experts in helping you sell your home more quickly and at a better price. We also work with to make sure your property retains its value.
So our first draft could look something like this:
“Add £1,000s on to the value of your property by landscaping your garden, we specialise in adding value to your home by installing a state-of-the-art outdoor space onto your property. We also spend the next 5 years working with you to help you maintain it, ensuring that it retains its value.”
It might not be perfect, but it’s a start.
Perfecting your first draft
Now, let’s turn our attention to improving this first draft. Whatever you’ve got first time round can almost always do with a tweak or two to perfect it.
It might sound strange, but your customers don’t want what you are selling.They want the result of what you are selling. So if your first draft focuses too much on your landscaping services, then tweak it to focus on results.
If your USP mentions how good you are at what you do, change it. If it mentions how good your tools are, edit it. If it mentions how good your customer service is, bin it.
- Your customers don’t want “expert craftsmanship” they want an impressive garden to show their friends and family.
- They don’t care that you use “professional quality tools”, they care they they can start enjoying their gardens quickly and easily.
- And importantly, they don’t care about “good quality”(!), they want to spend less time maintaining their garden once you are done.
It’s a subtle but important difference. So let’s look at our first draft:
“Add £1,000s on to the value of your property by landscaping your garden, we specialise in adding value to your home by installing a state-of-the-art outdoor space onto your property. We also spend the next 5 years working with you to help you maintain it, ensuring that it retains its value.”
Can we make this more results-focused? The result of this specific service is earning more money from the sale of their property, so this should be at the forefront of this specific USP. It’s not a million miles off, but it can be improved.
“Don’t miss out on £1,000s when you sell your home. Sell your property more quickly and at a better price by increasing the value and kerb-appeal of your home with a state-of-the-art outdoor space. We’ll also work with you for the next 5 years to ensure that it retains this extra value.”
Can lowest price be a USP?
A quick note about low price being a USP. Simply put, being the lowest price can for sure be a USP. But being just a low price can’t. It’s not good simply being low, you need to be the lowEST. So it’s tougher than you think for the price to be a USP. Can you always guarantee that you are quoting the lowest price? Probably not.
Anyway, you don’t want to be doing this. There is always someone willing to go out of business quicker than you by offering stupid prices. You want to avoid competing on price at all costs. So if your USP includes price, it’s best to tweak!
Confuse them and lose them
You are trying to convince your potential customer to buy from you, rather than go with another option. But what do you think is the most significant ‘other option’. A competitor? You’ll probably be surprised to learn it’s actually not. You customer has 3 options:
- Buy from you.
- Buy from a competitor.
- Buy from no-one/do nothing.
People often think that they are simply trying to look better than competitors and that will land them a sale, but they often neglect how easy it is for a customer just to do nothing and buy from no-one.
If you confuse your customer, you will lose them. Not necessarily to a competitor, but they might just find it easier to switch off and buy from no-one. It’s your job to make sure your USP isn’t confusing. Make your USP clear and concise, and ensure it has a 0% chance that it will confuse a customer.
So, can our current USP cause confusion? Here it is again:
“Don’t miss out on £1,000s when you sell your home. Sell your property more quickly and at a better price by increasing the value and kerb-appeal of your home with a state-of-the-art outdoor space. We’ll also work with you for the next 5 years to ensure that it retains this extra value.”
Are there any elements of it that might be confusing? My gut feel is we can simply chop the end of that USP off as it is a little unclear. Also, "state-of-the-art garden” could be clearer, so we can probably change this and make it more prominent. How does this?:
“Don’t miss out on £1,000s when you sell your home. Add a beautiful garden and sell your home more quickly, and at a better price, with the help our garden transformation experts”
This is clear, concise and actionable for your customer. They know what you are offering, they know how you can help and they are unlikely to be confused by it.
Examples to get the juices flowing
Our example above satisfies all the requirements for a USP that we’ve gone through. It’s not perfect, but it will certainly help more than not having one, or having a bad one. By working through this with your own USP, you’ll find you have something that adds value to your marketing if done properly.
Here are some other examples you might be able to take inspiration from:
- Become happier and healthier by spending more time in your garden (Why should they buy); reclaim your happiness with your personal outdoor ‘happiness space’ crafted by our experts (why should they buy from you?)
- Our social lives are huge life boosters and a garden patio is an amazing place for a party! (Why should they buy); And we've been designing bespoke outdoor entertainment spaces for x years! (why should they buy from you?)
- Your garden is an opportunity to effortlessly feel closer to nature; (Why should they buy); bring nature to you with the perfect wildlife focused space by our nature experts. (why should they buy from you?)
- Privacy is key. A proper garden helps create a private space; (Why should they buy); we are experts in crafting spaces that feel secluded and cut off from peeping eyes. (why should they buy from you?)
Again, none of these are perfect, but hopefully they can get the creative juices flowing! We are looking forward to seeing what you come up with!