| Are you struggling to create a memorable positioning | | | | sell your house in next to no time? |
| statement or USP (Unique Selling Proposition) for | | | | You've just witnessed the psychological power of |
| your marketing? Do you want to stand out from | | | | the Problem-Based USP. |
| your competition, but the uniqueness of your | | | | How To Create A Knockout USP For Your Business |
| business seems to elude you? Here's a sneaky, vital | | | | Let's assume you're in the wine selling business. To |
| secret that turns conventional marketing psychology | | | | own real estate in a customer's brain, you'd have to |
| on its head. By changing your positioning statement, | | | | do battle with about a zillion other wines. Yet |
| find out how to transform your weakest link, into | | | | decades ago, Paul Masson cut through the clutter |
| your strongest marketing strategy ever! | | | | with a simple statement. We sell no wines before |
| Avis Is Only Number 2. So Why Go With Them? | | | | their time. With charming simplicity, they turned a |
| Years ago, in the rental car market, Hertz was | | | | negative waiting period into an exploitable advantage. |
| chugging along merrily, with Avis a distant second. | | | | You too can turn your liabilities into assets. Stop |
| With one Problem-Based USP, Avis closed the gap. | | | | screaming about how magnificent you are, and look |
| Their catch phrase, We're No.2, We Try Harder, | | | | for the apparent glitches in your business. Let's just |
| ignited the minds of the target audience like a | | | | consider a few scenarios. |
| rampaging bush fire. They turned a liability into an | | | | Are You Perceived To Be Too Expensive, Slow, Or |
| asset. | | | | Maybe Just Too Busy? |
| Southwest Airlines took to the skies with a similar | | | | When we started our website at PsychoTactics.com, |
| message. We're Smaller Than Everyone Else, they | | | | we were faced with a similar dilemma. As human |
| told us, while gently explaining why their service was | | | | beings, we often disdain simplicity and common |
| dramatically better, as a direct consequence of their | | | | sense. The distillation process needed to simplify a |
| size. They also turned a liability into an asset. | | | | concept into easy-to-munch bites is often just seen |
| In 2001, Harley Davidson proudly boasted how their | | | | as common sense, and of no huge intrinsic value. |
| CEO was 38th on the waiting list for the company's | | | | Taking that liability into consideration, created a USP |
| then, new V-Rod motorcycle. And they took pains to | | | | concept, that stressed the fact that everything was |
| describe how each Harley was lovingly rolled off the | | | | not just old, but at least 5000 years old. In fact, |
| plant. The waiting period, which normally would be | | | | everything has already been tried and tested. That |
| perceived to be a negative, was turned into a | | | | put us in a mould that is totally different from all the |
| publicity coup that burned a stamp of quality and a | | | | new-fangled marketing angles you hear about every |
| uniqueness into the brains of every prospective | | | | day. The liability of common sense was turned into |
| Harley owner. | | | | the asset of experience. |
| All of these companies took a cold, hard-nosed look | | | | Best of all, it turned a problem into a winning USP |
| at reality. The superlatives in their business had been | | | | concept. |
| taken. Instead they unearthed their USP, in what | | | | The Biggest Reason Why You Should Search For |
| most people would consider a disadvantage of sorts. | | | | The Hiccup In Your Business Strategy |
| Are You Doing What Sally Did? | | | | Finding what makes you beneficially different is a |
| Sally is one heck of a real estate agent. Barely six | | | | notoriously difficult task. However, just about any |
| months into real estate, and she's already forging a | | | | client or potential buyer will very quickly identify your |
| red-hot path into the top ten salespeople in the | | | | weaknesses and liabilities. If it's a technical problem, |
| country. While her talents and persuasive powers are | | | | you can fix it. If it's a conceptual problem such as |
| formidable, there's a little something that puts her | | | | speed or price, it is much harder to fix. |
| head and shoulders above the rest of the crowd. | | | | This, however, is the key to your success. The more |
| That Little Something Is A USP On Steroids! | | | | you try to keep your weaknesses and liabilities under |
| If she chose to be unimaginative, Sally's USP or | | | | wraps, the more customers will uncover them. On |
| tagline could have ended up as pretty run-of-the-mill. | | | | the other hand, take a liability and turn it into an |
| It could have ranged from a tacky, Residential | | | | asset. Expose a problem to the harsh glare of the |
| Properties for every budget, to utterly boring, | | | | spotlight and transform your frog into a prince. |
| Getting Top Prices for Your Home. All of which would | | | | This brave act will gain the instant admiration and |
| see her struggling to stand out, in a dog-eat-dog | | | | support of your clients, while giving you a USP that |
| me-too marketplace. | | | | others simply won't have the guts to match. |
| A goody-gum-drop USP would get her nowhere in a | | | | Can You Make The Leap? |
| hurry. She needed a USP with rocket fuel in its tanks. | | | | Creating a negative USP is a tricky, dangerous tactic, |
| Something that would reach out and demand your | | | | and one not to be taken lightly. "We're slow and |
| attention without hesitation. | | | | proud of it!" is hardly a selling point, yet fulfills the |
| If You Sold Your Home In A Week or less, You | | | | requirements laid out in the article. However, if you've |
| Probably Got Too Little | | | | been struggling with your USP, as many companies |
| That's the USP that Sally created. Can you see what | | | | do, this is a tactic that may work well for you-as it |
| I mean? Doesn't that USP go for your jugular? Sally's | | | | has with some of the companies above. |
| target audience is sellers, not buyers. If you just sold | | | | It's time you tickled your customer's brain with some |
| a house, wouldn't you feel a twinge of regret? What | | | | sharply focused psychological marketing jujitsu. Find |
| if you were about to sell a house? | | | | the weaknesses and liabilities in your business, carve |
| Wouldn't you be curious to find out just a little bit | | | | them into a dynamic USP, and the attention your |
| about what Sally does to lasso in a higher return? | | | | business has been craving for, will be yours forever |
| And wouldn't you be just a little bit wary if the next | | | | more! |
| real estate agent you met told you that she could | | | | |