Chapter Fourteen - Discover Your Unique Selling Proposition - Tara Ingalls

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#Business Branding
#Sales

"Discover Your Unique Selling Proposition"

Tara Ingalls

 Tingalls Graphic Design, LLC
Owner and Creative Director www.tingalls.com / tara@tingalls.com 

“How is your business unique?”

I'm always surprised how many of my clients don’t have an answer to this simple question. Their responses are usually in one of two camps: either they’ve never been asked or they simply don't know. If you yourself don't know, how are your customers supposed to know why to choose you?

     When I give presentations on branding, I ask business owners to raise their hands if they have “excellent customer service, affordable pricing and friendly staff.” Without exception, everyone in the room raises their hands. They wouldn't be in business long without these things. But in continuing to ask more and more questions, what I realized is that true differentiation typically lies within four key areas: people, process, products and pricing.

      At Tingalls Graphic Design, we believe branding is all about differentiating yourself from your competition and then creating messaging and artwork based on those unique selling propositions (USPs). If you truly aren’t different than your competitor – or you don’t know how to articulate how and why you are better – how can you expect your customers to make their decision to support you?

      Throughout the years, I’ve been able to work with my clients to help them discern their USPs using simple questions based around those four key areas. Grab a pencil and let’s dig in!

People

• ·        Do you have team members that have reached milestone anniversaries?
• ·        What skills or ongoing education is your team provided to stay current in their trade?
• ·        Is your team empowered to make customer-centric decisions?
• ·        How quickly do you and your staff respond to customer requests or feedback?
• ·        How would you describe your company culture?
• ·        How does your company culture extend into the customer experience?

Process

• ·        How easy is it for clients to get information about your business?
• ·        Are you clear about the process of working with your company?
• ·        Is client onboarding effortless if they have to move companies?
• ·        Are you available after the project/service is complete?
• ·        Are you a one-stop shop so your clients don't have to complete portions of the project elsewhere?

Products

• ·        What features do your products/services offer that others don’t?
• ·        What solutions does your company offer others haven’t even thought of or can’t imitate?
• ·        Is your product or service more reliable/durable than your competitors’?
• ·        Can it be easily maintained throughout its lifetime?
• ·        What is your product or service guarantee?

Pricing

• ·        Does your pricing reflect the value you offer?
• ·        Is your pricing transparent and competitive?
• ·        How close are your estimates to final invoices?
• ·        Do you offer financing or a payment plan?
• ·        How is your pricing model different than others?

      The list above is just the beginning. Feel free to create new questions as they arise and keep asking yourself, “Why is this USP important to my customer?”

      When your list is complete, or when you’ve run out of steam, share it with your team members for their input. Employees in different departments – not just communications or marketing – may bring fresh and thoughtful ideas to the table owners. Do some online research to weed out any answers your competitors could also lay claim to, or that seem disingenuous.

Once you've compiled your list, perform an audit on current marketing efforts to see if they align with your new findings. Build messaging and create artwork to add to your website, social media, and employee onboarding paperwork so everyone on the team is clear on the company’s position in the marketplace.

TARA INGALLS

Tara Ingalls is owner and creative director of Tingalls Graphic Design, LLC. Since 2000, her firm has been Madison, Wis.’s go-to design agency for incredibly fast logo design, print collateral and website design solutions. Their stress-free design process keeps clients engaged with approval checkpoints along the way to ensure satisfaction.

View their design portfolio on the web at www.tingalls.com, email info@tingalls.com, or call 608-268-5525 to learn more.