We all want to sell. If you don’t you’re in the wrong place.
You know the phrase “Knowledge is power”
Knowledge helps you sell more.
We’ve already talked about knowing your customer.
You also need to know your product or service that you are selling.
A simple way to align this thinking is to go back to the ancient philosophers and take another look at their ultimate wisdom: “Know thyself.”
This time let me angle it a little bit and declare this: “Know thy product.”
By the end of this article you will be able to determine the unique selling proposition (USP) of your product or service. More than that, you will be able to sell more with purpose and confidence.
This guy has a USP. It’s on his numberplate.
What is a USP and how can it Help Your Business?
What is your USP?
I don’t need to beat around the bush and give a long-winded definition of USP.
Simply said, USP is something that differentiates your product or service from all the millions of similar products and services out there.
It is very easy to be unique if you have a unique product or service from the very start. If you do not have that, you can either develop unique promotions or unique guarantees for your customers.
Aside from that, how can you make your product or service stand head-and-shoulders above other similar offers?
The lesson here is to find out what makes you unique.
This is where composing your USP comes in:
1. Write down your USP. Do not think it. Write it. Write down your USP in whatever way it comes out of your head. You may write down a thousand words, that’s ok. You can cut it down later and distill it to what is essential and unique about your business.
Make a point to be the devil’s advocate of your own business. Think about why your product or service is not worth anyone’s time. This will actually help you think about what will make it unique and what will make your buyers go gaga over it.
2. Be the customer and answer this question as you write: “Why should I buy from you?” According to Corbett Barr of Sparkline fame, if you can’t answer this question quickly, your potential customers will move on. It’s not a good thing. You haven’t even launched your product or service and you are losing already. So put yourself in the shoes of your customers. Be the distasteful critique. Be the killer editor. Be the discerning customer.
3. Let your personality shine in whatever product or service you have. Look at Gary Vaynerchuck as an example. He took his family’s wine business from a million dollar company to a multi-million dollar company because of his social media savvy and standout personality. His personality reflects in his books and in his businesses. People recognise his signature personality.
Your personality is your signature.
4. Look for patterns on the Internet and learn from them. What products and services attract you? What pages, copy or words make you stop and think?
Don’t be an ass kisser but nail your USP.
It is Easier to Understand When You Know
Once you know your USP you will have a better grasp of your product or service. Knowing your product or service will help you understand it better. The better you understand your offer the better you can explain what it is to other people.
Communicating your offer to potential customers is essential if you want to skyrocket sales. When you have a good grasp of your product or service it is very easy to be enthusiastic about it.
How many salespersons do you know that make a sale by being excited about what they are selling? On the other hand, how many half-hearted sales pitches have you read or heard that really moved you to buy?
Enthusiasm and knowledge will boost your potential customers’ confidence in your product or service.
Faith is very powerful. It is especially powerful when it comes to sales.
You may have heard about the placebo effect in medicine and healing. The conceit of the placebo effect is to have patients take inert forms of medication that they were made to believe would relieve symptoms of any specific disease or pains.
Not surprisingly, placebos tend to work on 30% of patients.
Why? Because of the power of suggestion. The mind believes that taking a certain medicine will heal. That faith alone is powerful enough to activate any form of healing factor in a body.
When selling products and services, we are not selling placebos. But if we are confident that our service can help other people and relieve whatever pain points we can address, then that confidence will reflect in our copy, our speech, and whatever external manifestations we share and communicate to our potential customers.
Knowing our own product or service and whatever pain points we can relieve will help us sell them by orders of magnitude better than any half-hearted attempts at marketing and promotion.
In summary, you get more sales by:
1. Knowing your product or service inside out.
2. Knowing your USP – it is not simple to write your USP but it is worth it.
3. Keeping your USP at the forefront of your mind so you can clearly communicate your product or service.
4. Communicating clearly – this will help you or your sales team boost enthusiasm about your product or service.
5. By going gaga over your own product or service – this will instill buyer confidence.
When you have a product or service that can actually address pain points of your customers, then all you need to do is differentiate yourself from the competition and reap the rewards.
