Robert Collier once said that “success is the sum of small efforts, repeated day in and day out.”
It’s those small efforts that we’ve been reviewing in this six-part email series on leveraging existing customer relationships. You’ve taken the time to look inward these past few weeks and self-reflect on some pretty big questions, including:
- How can you better understand the needs of our print buyers?
- How can your company remain top-of-mind?
- How can you build credibility and trust with your print buyers?
- How can you leverage existing print buyer relationships to make new sales?
- How can you position your print buyers for a successful future with you?
Piggy-backing off of that last question, today you’ll learn how to exemplify your unique selling position (USP).
Identifying Your USP
Every one of your customers has a reason for why they chose to order printing from you over one of your competitors. Do you know what that reason is?
Finding the answer to that question sums up what a unique selling proposition is.
In order to exemplify your unique selling proposition — what sets you apart — you have to be able to identify it yourself. Here are some tips to help you identify your USP (or to double-check it) if you haven’t already.
- Conduct a features and benefits comparison. Make a list of the features and benefits your company offers and then search your competitors online to see where you can stand out.
- Highlight where you’re one-of-a-kind. From that same list, put an asterisk by any products or services that your competitors cannot copy or imitate. (These don’t have to be products either. Perhaps it’s a 24-hour turnaround time or the personal touch of handwritten thank-you notes with every job.)
- Show your print buyers what’s in it for them. For example, “At Direct Paths Printing & Marketing, your jobs are delivered in two days or less or it’s free!”
It’s important to note that your USP can change depending on changes you make in your print business or for different types of customers. The objective, however, is to stop putting your print business at risk by getting lost in the crowd. Knowing and exemplifying your USP will help.
3 Tips for Showing Off Your USP
Your unique selling point will define your company and highlight all of the reasons someone should be doing business with you. It can be anything from a delivery promise to the best customer service to a specific specialty area.
Here are some tips for showing off what makes you unique.
1. Live Out Your Core Values
One of the easiest ways to get all eyes on you is to live out your core values.
While other businesses may be all about the sales, you can be the type of company that knows your customers and their families by name.
While other companies may fudge on print counts, you can be the type of company that always acts with radical integrity.
While other companies might put off confrontation by trying to hide things, you can be the type of company that skips the excuses and makes things right.
2. Become a Problem-Solver
To exemplify what makes you unique, you can differentiate yourself by solving a problem for your print buyer.
For example, if one of your print buyers’ pain points is not knowing who in their company orders what, you can solve their problem by offering them private online ordering portal. Or, if it’s too much of a pain to hire a graphic designer, you can solve their problem by offering an online design tool for free.
Ask your current customers what problems or pain points they come across when ordering their printing and they be the one to solve those problems in a way only you can.
3. Make it Visual
The world, and the consumers in it, are visual. Instead of just telling your print buyers what makes you unique from your competitors, show them.
Here’s an example: Instead of telling your print buyers that you’re a family-oriented small business, show them with impromptu videos or pictures of your family and your team’s family on social media. If you say you’re focused on fun, show the world (and your followers online) the shenanigans you’ve got going on at your print shop.
Remember, your unique selling proposition doesn’t mean you have to be the best at something. You simply have to be unique.
When you live out your core values, solve the problems of your buyers, and let people into your world by making it visual, you’ll exemplify your unique selling proposition and become top of mind for both your present and future print buyers.