A ‘unique selling point’ or ‘unique selling proposal’ they’ll all tell you is what you create to be in a position to sell effectively . But why is it so self centred on the seller? Surely the whole point is to woo a buyer?
Let’s take the word ‘selling’ to begin with. I don’t like that word, do you? What does it make you feel when you hear or say it? Knots in stomach? Not good feelings that’s for sure. Having to cold call someone or having a car salesman pressure you into a test drive are not the experiences we take pleasure from.
It doesn’t matter if you’re doing the selling or being sold, it’s not a pleasant experience for most people whichever side of the fence you’re on. You have to smile though … two people locked in negotiation over a purchase, both wishing it was over.
So I was thinking an update on the old USP acronym was long overdue. I have redefined it to suit my own purposes and to make it something I feel captures the essence of business today:
USP = UTTERLY SEDUCTIVE PROPOSAL
This now places the prospect and customer at the centre of the offer, where they should be. We are not starting with an idea of selling. The spotlight is quite rightly trained on the buyer and what is important to them.
UTTERLY
You can’t do better than this and it is all there, total, complete and absolute. When it is this good it is not just ‘unique’, but it is the best and unsurpassable. ‘Unique’ doesn’t necessarily mean it is good quality. I can cover my product in pink spots. Now it is ‘unique’ but is it any better than before? ‘Utterly’ is describing a ‘proposal’ in this instance, so let’s make this proposal all-encompassing, all-inclusive, highly compelling and altogether irresistible.
SEDUCTIVE
Also meaning enticing, alluring and mouth-watering if you get it right. That’s the way you should aim to market your business yes? You want to give yourself the highest possible chance of making higher value and more frequent sales so you owe it to yourself, your company, but most of all your customers, to grab your market’s attention and make the competition look outdated, mean and overpriced.
If you are honest from a buying perspective, being ‘seduced’ is how you’d like to buy surely? You like to buy from someone who has thought the whole thing through and made an appealing offer. That’s professional and makes for a silky and effortless buying experience. It’s smooth and natural when it simply just feels the right thing to do to make that purchase. No uncomfortable moments or thorny life changing decisions to make. We all like to buy but hate to be sold. So seduce your buyer.
PROPOSAL
This word could have been ‘pitch’ but I find that word even more vulgar than selling. Who on God’s Earth wants to be ‘pitched’? It’s not even a pretty word. Dragons’ Den talk about candidates’ pitches, but I see no tents being erected in the Den!
So, ‘proposal’ instead of either ‘proposition’ or ‘point’. The word ‘point’ is not even worthy of a discussion here. In the context of USP it is, quite frankly, POINTLESS! And the word ‘proposition’…this conjures up images of a difficult decision, pressure and anxiety. It sounds like you’ll be asked a question and with a deadline for your answer.
‘Proposal’ on the other hand is warmer. A proposal is the offer of marriage [I’m assuming this marriage is a beautiful thing and full of the joys of spring of course!]. A proposal sounds like the person receiving it has control and time to consider the choice they now have.
I believe the aim for your business should be to create for your customers, and definitely NOT for yourself, the very best UTTERLY SEDUCTIVE PROPOSAL that is humanly possible. As Brian Tracy once said [I can hear his voice so I think it was him], “The only reason whatsoever to be in business is to service your customers”. So, with that in mind, make your USP fit the buyer and what they’d want. Start looking at your product or service through their eyes and not from your office or shop floor as that’s completely irrelevant to the prospect.
Let’s get rid of Unique Selling Points and start filling the world with UTTERLY SEDUCTIVE PROPOSALS… what do you say?
Tim Coe
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