If someone asked you today – ‘What’s your company’s USP?’ – would you know the answer? Furthermore, would your staff know the answer?
This is a question I often ask retailers and suppliers when I meet them. What makes your business different? What sets your company apart? What is your unique selling point?
It’s important for every business to have one, otherwise when push comes to shove, how will it stand out from the competition?
Of course many companies have a lot of strengths in common, and that’s fantastic because it’s great to learn from one another, support each other, and recognise areas of shared improvement, but at the end of the day each business needs to have one thing that is truly unique to them.
Quite often when I ask independent retailers on our cityscapes what makes them different to other jewellers on the high street, many will often proudly say: ‘Our customer service’.
That’s great. If you can excel at the very thing that a retail outlet depends on, then that’s a fantastic. But, it’s only the start.
Once I’ve received that answer from a retailer I then go on to ask what makes their customer service different to all the other jewellers on the high street. Your customer service might be second to none, and that’s important, but how is it different? How is it your unique selling point?
For this month’s cityscape, I had the pleasure of meeting independent jewellery retailers in Chichester and I was impressed by how unique they all were — and how they knew it.
Despite the high street boasting of over 13 jewellery retailers from inspiring independents to successful multiples, each one I met knew it’s place and what it did differently to the jeweller next door. Each one could tell a customer with pride why they should be shopping with them.
Each one knew what they could do more of to increase footfall.
Do you know your unique selling point? If you asked each member of your staff, would they know?
Discover your USP and make sure you and your team know how to communicate it and use it to boost business.
