Create a Unique Selling Proposition

“In order to be irreplaceable, one must always be different.”

– Coco Chanel

Glossing over the facts

“I’m a people person. I’d hate the idea of being in sales.”
“The thought of having a job that involves having to sell something would make me run a mile.”
“I’m absolutely passionate about coaching other people but don’t ask me to sell them anything!”

I hear this kind of talk from our coaching community all the time!

But what these people – and others in similar service industry businesses – patently gloss over, is the fact that without some form of selling and marketing of their services, the livelihoods that they are so passionate about would quickly cease to be relevant, or even exist.

Beating a path to your door – or not?

Many life coaches make the mistake of thinking that once they have a fabulous looking website, for example, the world will beat a path to their door – and they quickly become disillusioned when they find this is far from the case.

At New Insights we have long appreciated that training people to understand and apply quality life coaching skills – while vitally important – is not, in itself, a guarantee of the future coach’s success.

That’s why one complete element of our training programme is dedicated to helping the coaches-to-be plan their practices and promote and sell their services.

The USP concept

One selling technique that we put a lot of store in, is the creation of a Unique Selling Proposition, or USP.

The concept of a USP derives from a recognition of the fact that one’s success in building and maintaining a thriving small business, such as a life coaching practice for example, is to stand out from the ‘crowd’ and the ‘clutter’.

What do I mean by this?

Well, there are very few, if any, truly unique and in-demand services in the world. Once they come into existence they are quickly ripped off, copied or adapted by competitors hungry for a slice of the action.

If you want to succeed in the life coaching industry, or any other competitive services industry, simply being ‘in the market’ as another supplier is not enough. You have to find a way to stand out to your prospective clients. And one way of doing this is by creating a compelling Unique Selling Proposition.

Small investment pays huge dividends

Please believe me when I tell you that a relatively small investment of time in the soul searching and creative thinking required to come up with a USP will likely pay huge dividends, for two reasons:

Firstly, you’ll get a real handle on exactly what it is you are offering and how you intend positioning yourself in the market.

Secondly, you’ll have a genuine competitive edge as very few of your competitors will bother to do the same!

An effective USP

Okay, so what constitutes an effective USP?

In essence it is a brief, to-the-point marketing statement in which you present the rationale for why your product or service is different from and better than that offered by your competitors.

Ideally your USP should include:

Your Unique advantage. In other words, that which sets you, your product or your services apart from other suppliers.

A Sensational Offer. Think of this as an offer that is really enticing and difficult for your prospects to refuse!

A powerful Promise. By this I mean some form of guarantee that removes, or even reverses, the perceived risk to your prospects.

Understanding your target market

Before you try your hand at developing a USP for your practice or business, it is important to give serious thought to the nature of the customers that you are wishing to attract.

How to clearly define your target market – or ‘niche’ – is the subject of another post … but getting real clarity on who you want as your clients or customers is a vital first step in the process.

Wearing your customers’ shoes

Once you’ve done that, you need to ‘put yourself in your customers’ shoes’. Ask yourself the following:

What are they really looking for from you or, in marketing speak, what issues do they have that you can solve for them? What would make them choose you and what you offer over your competition? How could you provide what they need in a practical and profitable way?

As your practice or business gains more clients and grows you will gain a ready source from which to extract the information you need above. Don’t be afraid to tap into your client or customer base to identify what made them choose you. Identify your unique advantage and just keep building on this.

Reinforce your USP with testimonials

If you happen to be a life coach remember that a lot of your future business is likely to come from the word of mouth references generated by satisfied clients. Any testimonials you can get that underscore what you claim in your USP will serve to build your reputation and client base.

In closing, here’s an example of a USP based on that created by one of our trained coaches some years ago (I’ve changed the name of her practice). It proved to be a great success.

An example

“Nothing puts life into your years than finding and living your authentic purpose here on Earth.”

Vibrant Lives is searching for a select group of people who agree with this statement and who are passionate about embarking on a life changing journey facilitated and supported by the acknowledged experts in the exciting field of transformative life coaching.

If you qualify, and are genuinely and fully committed to maximising the life in your years, we offer an exclusive opportunity to test our acclaimed coaching programme, which is backed by a risk free money-back guarantee.

Don’t delay. Contact us now while spots are still available.

Your turn

Now, how about you try your hand at a USP for your business or practice?

I’m sure other readers would love to hear your thoughts. I know I would 🙂

Good luck!