"The world is full of abundance and opportunity, but far too many people come to the fountain of life with a sieve instead of a tank car...a teaspoon instead of a steam shovel. They expect little and as a result they get little."

There are 2 ways to find out your unique selling advantage.

Unique selling advantage discovery method 1.

Write down on a piece of paper the five reasons I should buy from you. A restaurant might write: 1. Fast and efficient service. 2. Choice of 19 dishes from the A'la carte menu. 3. All meals are approved by the heart foundation. 4. Every meal comes with free coffee or tea. 5. If your meal is not to your satisfaction you don't have to pay for it.

But doing it this way can be a little hard and time consuming, not to mention that it hasn't even talked about any benefits for your customer. You may find this next way a lot easier.

Unique selling advantage discovery method 2.

One one piece of paper you write "You know..." and on another piece of paper you write "What we do..."

Then you just fill them out comparing your business to another business. I'll show you using the restaurant as an example.

On one piece of paper you write "You know how when you go out to a restaurant you always have to wait forever for the food, then when it comes the order is wrong. And then when they do get it right it tastes terrible and the staff don't care, they just want you out as quick as possible so they can get the next people in."

And on the other piece of paper you write "What we do is have your meal ready for you within 9 minutes of us receiving your order. We also treat you with the respect you deserve, and offer you a choice of 19 delicious meals that are good for you - all approved by the heart foundation. And to make your dollar go further, we give you a complimentary cup of coffee or tea to finish off - this is just our way of saying "thanks for dining with us." And to make sure you are totally satisfied, if you don't enjoy your selection just tell us and we won't charge you - the chef will even apologise in person for not providing you with a pleasant dining experience."

O.K., that it's it. They are the 2 ways to come up with your Unique Selling Advantage. I prefer the second way because you can just make your advantage the opposite of the bad points about your competition. Plus it is like an ad in itself - read from "you know how" through to the end of 'What we do is" and you'll see it's like an ad.

Now tell me, if you saw an ad for a restaurant like the example above, wouldn't you eat there? I sure would. It beats the heck out of most ads that simply say "Open 6.p.m. till late."

Which brings me to my next point about your selling advantage. As soon as you have discovered it, use it to promote yourself. Use it in all the ads and letters you send out. Let everyone know why they should come to you.

Try this, it works!

May the success you achieve be a direct result of the effort you put in!!

Michael Ross
Miros Designs Marketing.
 
 
 

About this author

Michael Ross is an australian based author, product developer, direct marketer and consultant.

Michael Ross is known for his detailed and helpful advice on how to succeed in marketing.

Note:
Michael Ross' original web site is closed. I don't know if it's permanently or temporily. Michael Ross recently told me that he has more or less retired from the Internet. I'm sorry for any inconvenience that this may cause you.

You can, however, still buy a copy of Micael's book, "The Art of Leverage" by going to this web site: http://artofleverage.cjb.net/