Every successful firm needs a Unique Value Proposition (UVP) which is fancy marketing talk for the reason a customer will choose to buy your offering. If you don’t have a UVP it means that your offering is a pure commodity and you should not be reading this blog—I cannot help you.
A UVP states your product’s difference/s that are valued by the customer. These differences can be almost anything. For example, they can include:
- Superior service
- Greater product availability
- Higher quality
- Better performance
- Greater durability
- Respected image / prestige
- Technology leadership
- Satisfaction guarantee
- Lower cost
- Faster delivery
- More customer support
Think of a UVP as your special ingredient your business uses to prevent from becoming a “commodity.” It should leap off the page and demand attention from your buyers since this is why they will buy now. The challenge is to find that one thing that makes your offering different—that is all that you need to be chosen by your target market.
You could analyze the competition; generally this is wasted time since they probably don’t have the answer. Your customers know the answer or will help you find it. Determine their pains or unfulfilled needs. Start focusing on what they cannot get but need.
If you have no differentiator, create one. Think about it. When you go to the super market to buy milk, you still have to make a choice whether it is price, packaging, low fat versus whole milk, or soy product. Pick the most unique aspect or benefit of your product and focus your marketing messaging there.
People buy because of your offering’s uniqueness not because it is the same as others. Be different.
John Bradley Jackson
© Copyright 2008 All rights reserved.
John,
Good advice.
However, I do find competition analysis helpful in determining a unique value proposition. I recommend that small business owners examine the strengths and weaknesses of competitors and createa table of each characteristic, including pricing, distribution, packaging, customer service, etc.
Then put a plus, check, or minus for each characteristic by what your competition research reveals about each competitor. Then do the same for the business owner’s product or business.
This makes it easy to spot areas where competitors are weak, but the business owner is strong. If that weakness is something that matters to consumers, it can become the unique value proposition for the business.
If the business owner finds such an area of weakness for which the business isn’t strong, developing that strength can become a part of the business strategic plan and be developed into a unique value proposition.
Linda,
Well said.
JBJ