FRAM SYSTEMS ^blog

All of us have heard of the term ‘USP’. It stands for Unique Selling Proposition” and we’ve all heard we need to have one. What is that one thing that makes your business or service unique in the market place? What makes you or your company stand above the rest?

If you’ve heard it that’s great and if you’ve spent the time and mental energy to come up with one even better. Those that are really effective should tell your potential client or customer that they would be out of their minds to do business with any company but yours.

A good USP is great for getting attention but let’s face it, how unique is your business, really? Now you may actually be one of a kind, I don’t know but I doubt it. I’m almost certain that somewhere close to you there is another company doing something awfully similar to what you do, so how can you that unique?

Let’s go beyond the USP and actually do something unique and not just say something unique. Let’s listen closely to what our clients and customers need and want and fulfill,or better yet, exceed their expectations.

Recently I’ve read lots of current research concerning what buyers want from from industrial, business and consumer service providers. In one respect I was amazed by the lack of connectivity some providers have with their client base yet in another respect, that is as a consumer of services on all levels, I was not not surprised at all. In fact, I realized that I, who considered myself a harsh critic of under-performers, am in good and expansive company with my assessments of many of the companies I and my clients have dealt with.

So here is what the research points out. I am sure you will recognize failings in all these areas from your own experiences. Does your business excel in them? Rate yourself and your business. These are the things your customers are looking for from you.

Listen

Listen carefully to what your clients say. Listen for their personal wants and needs, as well as, their business needs. Help them solve as many of their problems as you can, don’t step into realms that you are not qualified to help in but suggest others that can.

Be Reliable

Look, talk is easy. If you talk the talk, walk the walk as they say. Do what you say you’ll do when you say you’ll do it! If you can’t deliver, don’t promise. How do you feel about people that go back on or don’t live by their word?

Everyone understands that things happen. Sometimes there actually are extenuating circumstances. If you encounter a situation with your customers that will prevent you from delivering as promised, be proactive. Inform the customer and have an alternative plan ready to present. Don’t let the customer contact you after they’ve been disappointed!

Be Accessible

When your customers or clients need you, be there for them. If you didn’t realize it before this moment, each business relationship you have is in reality, a personal relationship. Businesses, for the most part, communicate through people. Do not frustrate your valuable clients by being unavailable. If you cannot be available, have a system in place for someone else to personally handle you calls. Make voicemail the last resort. Never, ever avoid talking to a customer. Talk to them if only to beg forgiveness, if that is what is required, but talk.

Be Helpful

Be helpful in a meaningful way. Make sure that your product or service will have a positive impact on your customer’s business. Don’t sell something just to make a sale. Sure, a sale is revenue for you, but if what you sold doesn’t add to your customer’s efficiency, effectiveness or bottom line, think twice about making the sale.

Do the Right Thing

Just think about this: who would you respect most, the salesperson that sold you something that was not going to help you solve a problem or need, or the one who backed out because he knew what he had to offer was not right for your need? And how would you feel if he then told you what provider could better fulfill your need and offered to put you in touch with them? Build your success off the success you make for others.

Make them Feel Important

Make your clients feel important. Build personal relationships. Treat even your smallest accounts with the same care you treat your largest or most lucrative. When a client calls with a problem make sure they get to speak with a human being and not a voicemail system. Did I say that already? Well, it’s important.

Do your Homework

If your product or service is complicated, make sure you thoroughly understand your client’s application, their business and how your product or service will be used. Make sure everyone that needs to be involved in getting all the requirements and questions answered is consulted before you start consulting. Be informed about the ‘state of the art’ and new developments in your field and be savvy enough to say you don’t know when you don’t.

Be a Teacher

Help your client or customer understand your product or service and how to put it to it’s best use. They may not have the depth of knowledge that you do. Work diligently to impart as much expertise as you can without being overwhelming or condescending. Keep your old clients up to date with innovations in your business that can help them in theirs.

Be Efficient

Run a tight ship. The more efficiently your business is run, the more value you will be able to offer in terms of better price and service. No customer wants to feel like they are paying more than they have to for your lack of management skills or wastefulness

So that’s it. Be different. Continually strive to offer more value, better, more personal service and do what others in your market are unwilling to do. As one client survey in How Clients Buy said “Don’t try to sell me everything. Be honest and recommend the things I need, realizing that the happier I am with you the first time I use you, the more likely I am to come back and also refer others to you.”