A Smart Way to Differentiate Your Business – Create a Unique Value Process

Last week I hosted one of my regular mastermind meetings for my Private Client Group and a fair amount of time was spent discussing how to differentiate your business and the importance of having a Unique Selling Proposition (U.S.P.). I am not going to spend time today discussing the importance of having a U.S.P. because a quick Google search will turn up more than enough articles how on how to create one, what’s the difference between a U.S.P. and a slogan, etc.

[As an interesting side note, after that meeting I dusted off my copy of Reality in Advertising by Rosser Reeves, the gentleman credited with coming up the Unique Selling Proposition, and re-read what Reeves thought about the U.S.P. In its day (1961), the concept of a U.S.P. was revolutionary, but today is a different time and you and if you read Rosser's book, you might even disagree with him on some of his points as they relate to today’s world. Marketing and differentiating your business in 2014 is much harder than it was 50 years ago. Sure technology has made some things easier to do, but for most business owners trying to rise above the noise, trying to get attention and trying to differentiate their business is very difficult these days and more than just a U.S.P is needed.]

Yes, you should work on coming up with your Unique Selling Propositions (notice that’s plural), but today I want to discuss something else. Something I’ve preached for years, but find little information on the Internet or in books discussing it.

It’s your Unique Value Process (U.V.P.) and it’s an important, yet often overlooked strategy for clearly positioning your business value and how it’s different from your competition.

In today’s ultra-competitive world, business owners need to continually differentiate their products from their competitors.

If there is no differentiation, why would a customer buy your product or service compared to a competitive product or service?

As a business owner, you need to build your products or services with unique value or a unique competitive advantage, however, many times, your competitors will copy, or even improve upon, your unique values or advantages and therefore the advantage is soon lost. A quick review of marketing and advertising history shows most highly valued attributes become commodity features over time.

To combat this loss of advantage or uniqueness, you should develop, name and promote your U.V.P., which describes the specific and proprietary procedure you have developed for your product or service.

Your Unique Value Process is your “secret sauce” that you and only your business can claim and offers a simple, yet distinctive reason to choose your business over the competition. It’s not a single thing, but a series of things you do to help your customers.

In order to create your U.V.P. you must look at the way you conduct business and develop a proprietary procedure or process built around what it is you do that offers your customers unique and distinctive value. Even if others in your industry do the same thing, the simple fact you are bringing the procedure to light and giving it a unique name differentiates you. If you have a hard time figuring this out on your own, working with an experienced marketing consultant can help here (I think I know one or two <g>).

Any type of business owner can develop a U.V.P. with some intentional creative thought applied to the effort. Here’s a few ideas off the top of my head:

• A local pizza restaurant differentiates their pizza by letting customers know the 50 year old recipe comes from Mama Cecilia (the owner’s Sicilian grandmother) who baked pies in open-air, wood-burning ovens and features a special ingredient which makes the crust extra crispy. (I wrote about something similar in this article.)
• A financial planner helps his clients save more and give less to Uncle Sam with his unique 5 Step Asset Protection System that he’s developed after being in the business for 20 years and working with thousands of clients.
• A martial arts facility owner helps kids build confidence and a positive spirit with her proven 90 Day Strong Kids Blueprint.
• A manufacturing business consultant helps his clients get more of their own customers with his Manufacturing Lead Generation Formula.
• My Private Client Group members, Jeff Giagnocavo and Ben McClure have a 100% closing rate when prospects utilize their innovative and exclusive Dream Room to test-drive a mattress before they take it home.

I think you get the idea, which is not only do you have to identify, create, and use a proprietary procedure or process, but you also have to give it a catchy and memorable name and use it throughout your marketing!

Done right, your U.V.P. will offer prospects and customers a clear reason why to do business with you. It could also be a strong leverage point for getting media attention and publicity too.

To help kick-start the creative thought process, here are a few common descriptors you can apply to your U.V.P.

• System
• Process
• Blueprint
• Procedure
• Recipe
• X Steps to
• Plan
• Formula
• Prescription

I’m stating the obvious when I remind everybody of the level of difficulty we all encounter today trying to market our businesses. In order to thrive and be profitable, many, many things have to line up and be working optimally.

One component to differentiate your business and that can have a dramatic impact on the way prospects and customers look at your business is your Unique Value Process(es). If you don’t have a U.V.P. in place, consider this a virtual kick-in-the-butt to get started on one and if you do have one, leave a comment below and share what it is and why you created it.