Lowest Price As A USP
In the absence of any other differentiation, lowest price becomes the deciding factor on a purchase. What that means is that if you don’t give your customers a better reason to shop with you, they can only compare your price against others and go to the lowest price.
This is not a place where you want to be as a business, you will likely go out of business in a hurry. You would be far better to stand out in your marketplace with a different message and change the focus of your Unique Selling Proposition (USP) – that is your marketing message – to something else that matters to your customers. Your USP needs to answer the question “why should your prospects do business with you above any and all other options”. And you need to give a compelling reason.
Lens Crafters will get your glasses ready in about an hour, Wal Mart is the low price leader (one of the few businesses to successfully pull off this USP), Domino’s Pizza was the first to deliver in “30 minutes or it’s free”.
Each of these companies chose a particular feature of their business and decided to become the leader in that marketplace.
Is there a void in your marketplace? What can you do or deliver that no one else in your marketplace can? Then, before you decide on a USP, make sure that it matters to your customers. It might be an acccomplishment to be able to deliver a certain widget in 10 minutes but if your customers don’t care, or that is not what they are looking for, then don’t try to make it your USP. It won’t help you if no on is looking for that feature.
Find some way to stand out in your marketplace. Something that matters to your customers and that is currently not being delivered to them. Integrate that into your business, sales and marketing do deliver the message over and over, consistantly.
If you don’t find a way to stand out, your customers will buy on price and you will either lose customers or lose money.
That was an excellent post with some great information.
Bargain hunters … I’m not sure whether we should love them or loathe them but if you’re in business you’re certainly going to have to deal with them. They’re out there in just about every vertical and these days there seems to be more of them than ever.
They’re always looking for the cheapest price and they’re always either asking; “Is that your best price?” or “I saw that cheaper in the store round the corner.”
Sadly you’re never going to convince some of these people that price is not always the one factor you base every single decision on. There are many other factors that can be far more important than price alone and it’s these factors that can be your defense against all but the most rabid bargain hunters.
Yes, that is right Stephanie. If someone can not see the value you are offering, then you will be just wasting your time. The trick is to focus the core of your business – your USP on showing your value and communicating the benefits of who you are. Start by attracting the right buyers in the first place. Make that part of your marketing.