Surely every business owner, at some point, has been told they need to have a USP, or unique selling proposition.  And many will struggle with this.  One reason is that it's actually very hard to find something about a business that is really, truly unique, unique meaning "one of a kind".  Our free marketing resource, USP or ESP?, discusses an alternative way to look at this issue.

So how else can you tackle the challenge of defining what your business is about in terms that are meaningful to your customers?

I've been working on this with one of my clients and it's not been easy.  As a professional service company, dreaming up wild and wacky ways to stand out is not an option.  But in these cases it's all too easy to get stuck in tried and tested - or should that be tired and tested? - ways of communicating. Consequently, every company providing that service ends up sounding and looking the same - staid and stale.  Given that we're working on a brand new web site and accompanying promotional strategy, this was the moment to get out of that trap.  But how?

The insight came when we picked up on the way some other companies, in many ways competitors, are operating now.  This realisation, coupled with some conversations my client had had with potential clients (or possibly not so), brought us to the conclusion that what my client is NOT is every bit as important as what they ARE and that it was high time we took a stand and declared our position.  The decision not to do business in a particular way is a definite expression of the business' values and makes them much more easy to demonstrate than the more usual bland expressions that are so easy to trot out without any evidence as to how they are manifested.

So when the new web site is launched (due September) they'll be as clear about what they DON'T do as what they DO do.  And that will be just one way in which that will be actively making clear what they stand for.

I'll be blogging more about how my client will be demonstrating their values in very practical and engaging ways once their site is launched.

Related post

Dig a bit deeper: Differentiation Part 2 

PS What is Clarity Marketing NOT about?

We're NOT about:

• Squeezing you into a "system" or "one size fits all solution";
• Dabbling with promotional trappings without getting the foundations right first;
• Promising you a guaranteed stream of customers through the power of wishful thinking;
• Selling you anything you don't need.

What we do do is provide professional, pragmatic marketing advice on a flexible basis to help you grow your business.  Read more about what we do.