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How To Form A Unique Selling Position For Your Carpet Cleaning Business (Reprinted with permission from Cleanfax) What is a Unique Selling Position? A Unique Selling Position, or U.S.P., is the "thing" about your company that differentiates it from your competition. Your U.S.P. conveys to the consumer the reasons why you are different and why he/she should choose you. Your U.S.P. is something that you should think about and get right, as it is one of the most important parts of your marketing message. Your U.S.P. should answer this question: "Why Should I Do Business With You, Above Any And All Other Options, Including Doing Nothing, Or Whatever I'm Doing Now?" How do you determine the best U.S.P. for your business? Well you have to do some market analysis to find out what your competition is offering. You need to know what the consumer's available options are and then create your U.S.P. to fill the void that is not being covered or somehow provide an existing service in a superior way. Let me give you an example. The pizza industry was once (and still is) an industry that is pervaded with sameness, competition, and low prices. One savvy entrepreneur decimated his competition and built an empire merely on the strength of his great U.S.P. His U.S.P.? "Fresh, Hot Pizza Delivered In 30 Minutes, Guaranteed!" I'll bet that you instantly recognized that I was talking about Domino's Pizza! Domino's rose to the top almost exclusively on the strength of their great U.S.P. Subway Sandwiches phenomenal, almost unheard of growth in the fast food industry also is due to the strength of their U.S.P. When you want a fresh subway sandwich, made the way you want it, on fresh bread baked that day, where do you go? Subway! Jiffy Lube created a whole new industry with their U.S.P. "Quick Lube And Oil Change In Under 20 Minutes". There is a company in my area that specializes in getting rid of a very annoying pest--fleas! But what is so special about that? Almost every pest control company performs this service. Almost every hardware store carries chemicals that kill them. Their U.S.P.? "We Will Get Rid Of The Fleas In Your Home, With No Toxic Or Dangerous Chemicals, For One Full Year, Guaranteed!" You see, nobody else does that! This company is doing very well because of this. I hope by now we can see the competitive advantage of a great U.S.P., right? Good! But what is a good U.S.P. for a carpet cleaner? Well, that is why you have to think about it. What is it about your business that would compel people to do business with you? Do you offer any compelling benefit to the consumer that nobody in your area offers? Perhaps you can offer a service to your customers in such a superior way that they would want to have nobody but you. Maybe you are the only guy on the block that dry cleans carpets. If that were the case, a great U.S.P. would center around the theme of dry carpets. For example, "Fresh, Clean Carpets Ready To Use In 1 Hour, Guaranteed!" Maybe you'd like to center your U.S.P. around the fact that not only do you clean the carpet, but, unlike your competition, you rinse it thoroughly too! Your U.S.P. could be, "Your Carpets Thoroughly Cleaned With No Sticky, Dirt Attracting Residue Left Behind, Guaranteed!" Or maybe you'd like to offer the consumer a clean carpet guaranteed for 1 full year. "Fresh, Clean Carpets That Will Stay Clean, No Matter What You Throw At 'Em, For One Full Year, Guaranteed!' Of course, you'd probably would want to include a protective coating with every cleaning job and offer a nominal maintenance charge to keep the carpet looking clean throughout the year. The key to a truly powerful U.S.P. is in giving specific, meaningful benefits to the consumer. Not vague general statements. How powerful would Domino's U.S.P. be if they were to say, "Fresh Hot Pizza Delivered Real Fast!"? It wouldn't be powerful at all. You see, everybody delivers fresh hot pizza real fast. But Domino's gave the compelling benefit meaning by being specific like a laser beam, "Fresh, Hot Pizza Delivered in 30 Minutes, Guaranteed." If Lenscrafters were to say, "The Right Glasses Made Really Quickly", how well do you think they would be doing? Probably not too well. The "About An Hour" part of their U.S.P. is the compelling benefit. Without that, they're just like everyone else. You see, a generally worded U.S.P. statement doesn't cut it. You have to hone your U.S.P. down to a particular, accurate phrase of compelling benefits. The more descriptive the better. So develop a meaningful, specific and compelling U.S.P. for your business. Give your customers reasons to want to use you, and they will!
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