Restoration and cleaning is a highly competitive and mature market. Working with clients in three countries, we never hear the words, “I’m the only restorer in town!” Instead, everyone is mentioning the competitor next door, the one down the block, and the new one that just opened one street over and was probably started by an ungrateful former employee. I am convinced that half the businesses located on Long Island, New York are restoration businesses, begging the question, What the heck is going on in Long Island?!
The difficult part in marketing is to stand out from competitors and give your customers a reason to trust you. If they trust you, they are more likely to buy from you. Marketing with a focused message helps to amplify your brand and build that trust.
At the center of all your marketing efforts should be your Unique Selling Proposition (USP). Before diving into creating and utilizing one, let’s take Simon Sinek’s approach and start with WHY.
Why Use a USP
People tend to think in buckets. For example, when they shop for a new automobile, typically price matters most, so that’s the first bucket. From there, they may rank priorities of size and form, electric or internal combustion, safety rating, warranty protection, reliability, and more.
If you were an automobile manufacturer, your USP should demonstrate quickly and concisely which buckets you fill better than your competitors, saving your customers time in research and providing them with peace of mind. Subaru is a master at this with a complete focus on safety and reliability. Customers who value these two buckets the most will find a vehicle in the Subaru line that meets their needs because their USP and marketing have demonstrated how their vehicles address safety and reliability. Because they have already created value in their customers’ minds, this makes the rest of the sales process easier.
USPs do the following to help you create more impactful marketing and grow sales:
- Create Clarity: Helps customers understand what you offer and why it’s valuable.
- Build Trust: Encourages customers to choose you over competitors by showing your expertise.
- Simplify Marketing: Provides a consistent, central message for all promotional efforts.
What is a USP?
Originally coined by Rosser Reeves, a television advertising pioneer, USP refers to the unique benefit exhibited by a company, service, product, or brand that enables it to stand out from its competitors. In short, the USP is meant to quickly demonstrate a distinct benefit that others cannot provide at the same level, encouraging someone to buy from you if that benefit is most important to them.
As business leader Rebecca Mark says, “If you don’t distinguish yourself from the crowd, you’ll just be the crowd.”
Researching and Designing Your USP Message
Research your target audience—the people most likely to purchase your service and benefit the most from what you offer—and communicate with them directly and clearly. In short, figure out how you fulfill their needs better than your competitors without mentioning any by name. Identify this competitive advantage and in doing so, keep an eye on the future. Does your idea make sense in the minds of your audience today, a year from now, and hopefully five years from now?
Get inside your customer’s head. Their perception is your reality. Research and describe the following:
- The real needs and wants of your ideal customer
- How you can solve their problems
- What factors influence their buying decisions
- Why your existing customers choose to buy from you
- Why your competitor’s customers choose to buy from them
As you build this out, remember that customers don’t buy your service. They buy your solution. Once you have identified how to lay out your solution in as few words as possible, it’s time to create your USP.
USP Creation and Best Practices
The most important advice I can give is to avoid fluffy words. Statements like amazing, awesome, and spectacular may make you feel warm and fuzzy, but they do little for your customers. They make you sound like an amateur. Instead, use clear and professional words and phrases that get right to the point and avoid overpromising.
Your customers don’t have time to be wishfully sold or BS’d to. They want facts. Be sure you are using customer-centric thinking. Focus on your targeted customer’s needs, wants, and pain points. Then laser focus your message. They don’t want all the information; they want the information that matters most to them. Use this 8-step process to create your initial draft.
8-Step Formula for Creating a USP
- Identify Your Target Audience: Clearly define the people most likely to benefit from your service.
- Describe the Problem: Articulate the specific challenge your audience faces.
- Introduce Yourself: Let your audience know who you are.
- Explain Your “Why”: Share your purpose or mission to establish trust.
- Clarify Your Service: State exactly what you offer.
- Highlight the Benefits: Showcase how your service solves the customer’s problem.
- Showcase Uniqueness: Emphasize what sets you apart from your competitors.
- Craft a One-Sentence Summary: Condense your USP into a concise, memorable statement.
How to Utilize Your USP
This is your go-to cheat sheet, or CliffsNotes, for all marketing materials. Everything involving your logo, social and digital marketing, traditional marketing, and in-person messaging is created from it. Your advertising dollars and time cannot be spent going five different directions or it creates confusion. Disciplined marketing works because it creates real brand awareness.
Whatever your USP is should be highlighted and clearly noticeable. If you are targeting customers that put safety first and that’s listed as your USP, blast it out in everything you do. Let them know you are the safety-first restorer. Maybe your message is going above industry standards, emphasizing over-communication and understanding with the homeowner, providing comfort by being a liaison between the homeowner and insurance company, being a one-stop provider for all areas of property restoration, focusing on the community at large, or 24/7 personal service. Ideally, you care about all these things, but you can’t have it all in your message. It’s too confusing, and some of it doesn’t matter to every one of your customers. Instead, pick one and be the best at it.
Be the first name your customers think of in the bucket that matters the most to them … and then deliver on it. Otherwise, you are what Kenny Chesney talks about in his hit single “Noise” when he sings “Yeah we scream, yeah we shout ‘til we don’t have a voice. In the streets, in the crowds, it ain’t nothing but noise … Just tryin’ to be heard in all this noise.” I can promise you that it’s a lot easier to be heard when your message is clear and directed at the right audience.
Creating your Tagline
Once you are confident that your USP clearly describes your message to your ideal customer, demonstrating how you provide best-in-market solutions, it’s time to simplify it even further with a public tag line. Here is a real-world example of how taglines work.
Recently, my garbage disposal broke and needed to be replaced. Garbage disposals are not a purchase I make frequently, so I had to do some research. Three brands continued to come up: Waste King, InSinkErator, and BinCrusher. All sound really cool (and potentially great names for a monster truck), but I wasn’t familiar with them, so I went online and compared their taglines to see what they were all about.
Waste King – Legacy of Excellence
InSinkErator – Kitchen Better
BinCrusher – Clean and Green
Their taglines made my life easier because they told me what each brand is focused on. Waste King wants you to know they are high-end and have been around a long time. InSinkErator focuses on implementing new technologies. BinCrusher centers on the green movement. While each is noble and important for different reasons, the use of new technologies matters most to me, so I found an InSinkErator model in my price range that was highly well-reviewed.
Great taglines make emotional connections. De Beers – a diamond is forever appeals to the permanence of marriage through symbolism and intent. Death Wish Coffee – world’s strongest coffee is for those who don’t care about trends or reasons to add to an Instagram page but instead seek strength and efficiency. Patagonia – we’re in business to save our home planet resonates with eco-conscious consumers.
Each of these companies figured out that people don’t buy jewelry, coffee, or clothing. They buy lifestyles. Their taglines provide emotional solutions that align with a specific lifestyle, appealing to individuals who aspire to embody that way of living.
Each speaks clearly to a direct audience. Taglines have precise wording listing how purchasing that product or service can provide the most-valued solution better than anyone else. If you want that solution in your life, you need to choose us!
Final Thoughts
Your USP and tagline should reflect a skill or quality that defines your brand by the problem you solve. This ensures your customer not only remembers you but also trusts you in their time of need.
Bruce Lee famously said, “I fear not the man who has practiced 10,000 kicks once, but I fear the man who has practiced one kick 10,000 times.” So, my question to you is, what’s your one kick? If you need help creating yours, feel free to reach out to me.
Jeff Jones
Jeff Jones is the Director of Sales and Marketing for Violand Management Associates. With a broad range of experience in professional sales and marketing involving all levels of decision makers, Jeff works with companies to find the right mix of programs and services to help them develop their people and achieve their goals. Since joining Violand in 2012, he has been tasked with overseeing and executing strategies for the company that include services and market expansion. To reach him, visit violand.com or call (330) 966-0700.
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