For today’s Growth Coach blog, we are once again fortunate to have Glenn Smith as a guest blogger. Glenn Smith is a Growth Coach Franchise Owner from the Houston/Sugar Land Texas area and is a highly regarded business coach, prolific blogger, an accomplished marketer, and has recently been recognized as “The 2011 Coach of the Year” by The Growth Coach System.

You can learn more about Glenn, his credentials and his coaching services at www.TheGrowthCoachhHouston.com.

Sharpen Your Unique Selling Proposition

When you meet someone new at a networking or community event, and they ask you what you do, what do you say? Typically I hear “I’m a CPA” or “I’m a financial planner” or “I sell flowers” or “I’m in insurance.”  Get the picture? That’s about the most uninviting, non-engaging, boring way for you to position yourself! Isn’t there a better way?

Yes there is. It’s called a unique selling proposition or U.S.P.

A U.S.P. is a simple statement about the value you bring, what makes you distinctive or “unique” from your competitors, and one that is interesting enough to invite the other person into a conversation with you about what you do.  If I’m given the opportunity to tell someone what I do, and I answer “I’m a business coach,” – well, how boring is that? I have discovered that there are several ways I can answer which are much more interesting and engaging like:

“I help small business owners significantly improve the performance of their businesses.”

“I help business owners slow down, reflect, and map out the critical changes they need to make in order to take their businesses to the next level; then I hold them accountable to achieve the results they want.”

“I help business owners work smarter not harder, so they can make more money and work less.”

I’m not suggesting that these are the best U.S.P.’s, but they are a whole lot more interesting and engaging than me saying “I’m a business coach.” And they typically open the door to a conversation where I can learn more about the person I’m talking to and where I can pique their interest in what I do.

So how do I create my U.S.P.?

Take a short, strategic retreat, and ask yourself these questions:

• What is the value I bring?
• What is an obvious, compelling benefit (WOW)?
• How am I significantly different from others?
• How can I say this in an interesting way that causes others to want to know more?

It is worth the time to “craft” your U.S.P. This should be the springboard to your 30 or 60 second commercial. Try it out on others and watch their reaction. Ask for feedback. Tweak it until you’re happy with it, and then broadcast it everywhere – presentations, signatures, brochures, literature, website, voice mail, fax transmittals, invoices, news releases, packaging, everywhere!

I need for you to convince me (and convince me fast) to do business with you! A powerful, well-crafted U.S.P. can do just that!