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Highlighting your unique strengths… some insight from skiing
8 March 2007Marketers often encourage businesses to create a “unique selling proposition” or a USP. In different niches there is often competition, and the goal is to distinguish yourself and stand out from the crowd. Oft cited successful examples are Domino’s Pizza, “delivered hot in 30 minutes or less or your pizza is free.” Federal Express, “when it has to be there overnight.
You get the idea.
So, I was sitting on the chair lift here in the Poconos on our winter ski vacation and I couldn’t help but compare skiing out East to skiing out West.
Before this trip, I had only skiied in California, Utah, Colorado and New Mexico. So, skiing in Pennsylvania was a first. We had been to New Hampshire a few years back but I couldn’t ski. Anyway, I was comparing my eastern experience with my western experience.
And despite the many pros of skiing out west (much larger mountains, higher altitude, larger ski resorts, more challenging runs, warmer weather, more snow etc).
I was noticing all the wonderful things about my PA ski trip: great cheap getaway at a fabulous five star time share with tons of activities, only 2 hours from NJ, absolutely NO LINES to get on the lift, no crowds, nice fresh snow and man made snow underneath it, friendly folks, very close to resort.
All in all, we are having a first rate vacation. The point is that no matter who you are, what your experience is, what your unique strengths are, you can create a GREAT marketing message. You CAN position yourself to stand out from the crowd. You can see how these local ski resorts could position themselves as a fantastic family ski vacation for people from the nearby states. Sure, it’s unlikely people from California would fly across country for this but there are tons of people nearby they could target with these great benefits.
How about you? What are your unique strengths? How could you highlight your unique experience or traits? How can you position yourself to stand out from the crowd?
Say you were a medical malpractice attorney for 20 years and you want to become a premier med mal mediator, how many mediators have your experience? What else is unique about you? Have you represented both sides? What do people who work with you say about you? Is there some interesting testimonial or word picture that creates a compelling image? Are you the Poconos or are you Aspen? It really doesn’t matter, you can highlight your unique strengths, I doubt Aspen would ever be able to boast of no lift lines or lack of crowds…
Remember to focus on the benefits to the people in your target market you want to serve.
NEVER GIVE UP!
Your partner in peace,
Kristina