What’s Your USP? If you’ve studied marketing at all, you’ll recognize that acronym as Unique Selling Proposition—the one, unique feature that distinguishes your business from others.

Your USP is a clearly defined, easy to remember statement that describes how you are different (read ‘better’) than anyone else out there. It is repeated throughout all promotional efforts and key people in your organization can recite it in their sleep. The focus of your USP is outward, not inward—there should be a clear benefit to your customers. Here’s a big tip: using words like ‘quality,’ and ‘excellence’ mean nothing to a customer. Those superfluous terms are not distinguishing. Your USP speaks to a need or problem that you promise to solve.

Take a fresh look at all your promotional efforts. The one common question that all of your potential customers will have is “Why should I use them?” If you aren’t giving them an answer, they won’t.