4 Steps to creating YOUR Business’s Unique Selling Proposition

A USP, “Unique Selling Proposition,” is a statement to the marketplace about your business. It says, “This is why my business is better than the competition, and this is why you should buy from me.”

This is the logo for The Super Plumber. You can see that they clearly believe they are great at what they do.

Many contractors fear the USP.

3 Fears of the Unique Selling Proposition:

1. The Name. It sounds way too much like something a guy on Wall Street came up with. What does that have to do with a guy running service calls in the home?
2. The Blame. I’m going to be the guy that is going to take the hit for this “100% Satisfaction Guarantee.”
3. The Game. USP’s just don’t feel right. Those canned statements are just not me!

The end result is that many plumbing and HVAC business owners will not use USP’s to help build the value of their business. Or worse yet, they adopt the USP’s of an organization, but they don’t believe in it.   Those adopted USP’s decorate material, but never get used to help close the sell or build value.

The Solution? You need to create YOUR Unique Selling Proposition that represents your plumbing or HVAC business.

4 Steps to creating YOUR USP – Unique Selling Proposition

1. See the Trees in the Forrest. Imagine everything you love about your business:
   • Your People: Your people are your greatest asset.
   • Your Training: Your training should create superior people.
   • Your Reputation: A good reputation is more valuable than money.
   • Your Guarantees: The steps you will take to solve a problem.

2. Pick a Tree. Each loved component of your company is a tree. Pick a component of your company to talk about.   Don’t try to describe the whole forest, just pick one tree for one USP. So, make your USP about people, training, reputation, or whatever thrills you.
3. Pick a Story to Tell. Don’t over think this. Just pick one of the stories you would tell if you were having a beer with a friend.

Henry, do you remember the time I ran window units out to Ryan Fox at 2 AM? Ryan was absolutely convinced his fish would die if I didn’t come out that night. I bet there’s not another company around here that would do that for their client.

[By the way, that’s actually my story. I personally ran windows units to a client because he was afraid his fish were going to die. I even had to go to Wal-Mart and buy them first, because all of our temp units were in the field! The good news is that I also closed the sale for a new system while I was there.]

4. Turn that Story Into a Unique Selling Proposition. Start writing down some ideas. Bullet-point them on paper until you find the one that really rings in your ears.  From that idea, you can tell you story, and transform it into a USP in the form of a written guarantee. Here are a few examples:
   • Service While The Competition Sleeps
   • No Hour Too Late
   • No Need Too Small
   • No Client Not Loved

This is one way my client has expanded his USP into a video that tells his story.