A unique selling point is very simply something that sets your company apart from the competition.
After you’ve studied your market and examined your competitors’ offerings, it’s time to identify a USP for your online business that will boost your company’s sales to the highest level possible.
Do you know what makes your company or its products different? If you don’t, you’ll have to create something to make your products or services stand out from the crowd.
If you’re having trouble establishing a unique selling point for your company, here are five good ways you can set yourself apart.
1. Free Shipping
If your competitors are charging a shipping fee, you could try adjusting your prices so you can offer free shipping. When a company charges for shipping, budget-minded customers have to calculate or guess how much their total will be before clicking “buy”, and that sometimes puts them off.
With free shipping — and an assurance from you that there are no other hidden charges — customers feel confident the price quoted is the amount that will be charged to their credit card.
2. Fast Delivery
Another problem with having something delivered is how long it can take. Whether you offer free shipping or not, can you find ways to speed up delivery of your items to customers?
Faster delivery often means choosing a more expensive shipping method or changing to a more reliable carrier, but is it possible you can make changes to your shipping schedule that will shave days off the delivery time too? If you can deliver faster than the competition, that’s a unique selling point.
3. Better Customer Service
Customers like to know that someone is there to help them, and they like an assurance that when something goes wrong, they can return or cancel with no hassles.
If your competitors show only an email address on their site, offer a phone number and an online trouble-ticket system for customer communication.
It’s also important to state a generous return policy and stick with it.
4. A Truly Unique Presentation
Sometimes, the product itself really is different — or you can find a way to make it truly different. For example, if you’re selling an ebook on a topic that’s already saturated with ebooks, get in front of a camera and turn it into a video course instead.
Offer something the others guys aren’t offering by making different colors and different materials available, if possible.
5. A More Complete Experience
Often, customers want things that complement the product or service purchase, and you can increase your income while serving their needs by offering add-on and coordinating products. That means offering peripherals and extras you aren’t offering now.
You could even offer instructional products related to your other offerings or professional services like coaching or mentoring.
Being Different is Essential
In most product lines and service fields, there are already a number of companies whose offerings are very similar to yours. If there aren’t, your product is already different and already has a USP.
For everyone else, you must set your company and your offerings apart from the pack somehow. One or more of these five suggestions just might be the best way for your business to establish the unique selling point it has been lacking.
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