We talked last week about some of the most effective USP’s I’ve seen and we mentioned Domino’s and FedEx.  Those were short, sweet and to the point.
However, there is value in USP’s that are not short.  Now I’m not talking about long-winded, totally-drawn-out USP’s that nobody can remember, but a longer one can have just as much meaning and value as a short one.

Here are two examples I hinted at last week.  Here’s one for our retail supply business, American Retail Supply:

Everything you need to run your store – on time, every time, from the people who know only happy clients come back.

To you, that may not mean much, but to the independent retailer or regional chain (our bread and butter clients), this has tremendous value. 

Here’s one that may have some meaning to you:

Helping direct mail marketers increase their ROI with creative, unique and clutter busting 3D mail products and grabbers.

That’s ours at 3D Mail.  I admit I don’t use it nearly enough, but now that I’ve shared it with all of you, I’ll certainly start using it more.

You’ll notice in both USP’s we’re not trying to be everything to everyone.  In fact, it’s just the opposite.  If you don’t have a store, the American Retail Supply USP means very little to you, in fact, you’d probably stop reading after the first line.  But if you own a store, it speaks directly to you.  Every store owners hates having multiple PO’s with multiple vendors.  They hate when their supplies don’t arrive when they’re told they will.  They can relate to it.

The same goes for our 3D Mail USP.  Right off I state that we help direct mail marketers.  If you don’t use direct mail, it’s not for you.  But if you do, you certainly keep reading.  We even make a promise of increasing the ROI of those who use it.  No a bad USP if I may say so (I did write it, so I better like it!)

Here’s a litmus test for you.  Ask your clients what they think your USP is.  If they can get close, then you’re on the right track.  It may not be exactly phrased right, but if they get the big picture, you’re doing something right.

That wraps up our series on USP’s.  We could go on and on with USP’s, you could spend an entire seminar on the topic.  We’ll march on later in the week with our new topic.
See you then!