As a small business owner, it’s essential for you to define your unique selling proposition and utilize it in all of your marketing efforts. Defining your unique selling proposition involves coming up with a statement that states what it is that makes your company different from your competitors.

If someone were to ask you to tell them why they would want to bother to do business with you, the answer to that question would be your unique selling proposition. The statement should address why someone might want what you have to offer, and why your company should be the provider of choice.

If you don’t know what your unique selling proposition is, you are going to have a difficult time marketing your business to other people. While prospective customers aren’t going to literally demand for you to tell them your unique selling proposition, that information is what they will want and need to hear when they are trying to make a buying decision.

Whatever you define your unique selling proposition to be, that message should permeate all of the marketing materials that you use – from your website to any direct mail pieces or print or broadcast advertising messages that you use. It should also be a part of the vocabulary that you and your employees use to talk about your company to potential customers and referral sources.

When people have any type of interaction with your company, they should walk away with a solid understanding of what your organization is all about. That is the only way they can decide whether or not doing business with your company is right for them. It’s up to you to come up with a unique selling proposition that does a good job of pitching the benefits that you have to offer in a manner that will make people want to purchase from you.

Questions to ask yourself when coming up with your unique selling proposition include:

  • What need does your product or service fulfill?
  • How can your product or service benefit target customers?
  • What results can clients expect when doing business with you?
  • What do you offer that no one else provides?
  • What does your company do better than anyone else?
  • Why would someone want to work with you instead of your competitors?

Additionally, you may want to ask the people who are already doing business with you to provide you with feedback about what they like about your companies products or services, and why they chose your company instead of a competitor. That information can be very valuable to you when you are working on defining an effective unique selling proposition. After all, who better than those who have already chosen to work with you to help you understand what it’s like to work with your company from the customer’s point of view.