Can you explain why someone should hire you?

6th, Sep 2018

Let’s face it. It’s hard to stand out anymore. Your prospects can easily search online to find all your competitors and superficially compare you to them. It’s just as difficult to differentiate yourself with referral sources. We all know lots of people and can forget what someone does, or we know several individuals who do the same thing. Why should someone pick you to call or refer?

One of the hardest things to do is to determine your unique selling proposition (USP) and unique value proposition (UVP). Your USP is a statement about your competitive advantages – why someone should hire you over your competitors. Your UVP focuses on the benefits your audience can expect from working with you – what value you add to the relationship and how you help. You need to be able to articulate these statements in a way that people will understand, remember and repeat to others to spread your brand.

Here’s some tips to help you get started defining your USP and UVP:

1. Stop trying to be all things to all people. Professionals and business owners often talk about what they do and who they help as broadly as possible. A lot of that is because they fear losing business. If you say you focus on X type of work, then you won’t get Y type of work, which you are also capable of doing. Now there is nothing wrong with taking whatever work you can get, but if you are trying to market yourself to reach all people, you are minimizing your differentiators and competing against more firms.

2. Know your audience. Who specifically do you want to target with your marketing? Remember prospects and referral sources are not created equally. It’s up to you to figure out the best market to pursue. Then determine what they care about. Your USP and UVP should speak to their needs, interests and pain points.

3. Be specific about your differentiators. Don’t rely on generic statements about how you care about your clients and you’re responsive to their needs. Your competitors are saying the same thing. Look at your background, education, experience, training, interests, activities, clients, contacts, perspective, services, etc. to find ways to differentiate yourself. Then identify why these would matter to your target audience and how they specifically help you add value to your clients and referral sources.

4. Focus on a niche. If you have a problem, when do you go to a specialist and when do you go to a generalist? For most people, the more serious the problem, the more likely they are to seek out specialized solutions. A niche helps turn you into a specialist, so you have less competition and get better quality and more lucrative leads. It enables you to differentiate your business, build expertise in a specific area and focus your marketing resources so you can spend less money and get a better ROI.

5. Be authentic. Don’t just pick up some buzz words that you think sound good. Be true to yourself or you will come across as phony. It helps to develop a personal story – think about how your background motivates you to do the work you do or what you enjoy most about your work and your clients.

6. Consistency is key. All of your marketing should reiterate the same message and reinforce the same USP and UVP. That includes your networking, website, writing, speaking and other activities.

Remember your goal is to develop a distinctive and positive message that is easily remembered and helps you stand out from the competition.

Need help with your marketing? Contact us for a consultation.

 

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