What is a unique selling proposition, and does a service business need one?
A unique selling proposition is the main reason a customer should choose you over the other businesses they are comparing, said in a sentence they could repeat to someone else. A service business usually benefits from one, because customers often compare a few options in minutes. The strongest come from what you already do and can show, such as how fast you respond, a specialty or an area you know well, not from words like quality that anyone can claim.
What it is, in plain words
It has three parts: what is different about how you work, why that matters to the customer, and how they can tell it is true. "Family-owned" is a fact; "We answer our own phone, seven days a week" is a reason to call.
The Small Business Administration's planning page uses a close cousin, the value proposition, and asks for a "clear and compelling statement" about the unique value a company brings to its market.
Where to find yours
- Speed: how quickly you reply, quote or show up, if you do it every time.
- Specialty: the kind of job you do most and best.
- Area: neighborhoods, building types or local rules you know better than outsiders.
- How you work: one person from quote to finish, photos of every stage, clean-up included.
- What customers already say: the words that keep coming up in reviews and thank-you messages.
Tests before you use it
- Is it true on every job, not only on good weeks?
- Can you show it, with photos, reviews or a number from your own records?
- Would a customer care, or is it only something you are proud of?
- Could a competitor say exactly the same thing? If so, narrow it.
- Is it short enough to say on the phone?
Where it goes, and why invented claims fail
Put it on the first screen of your homepage next to what you do and where, as the related answer on what a homepage should say describes. Use the same idea in quotes, in your voicemail greeting and in how you answer the phone, so customers hear one consistent reason.
An invented or unprovable claim tends to fall apart the moment a customer reads your reviews or compares you with two others. The related answer on how customers compare businesses online covers what they check.
Sources
Related answers
- What should a service business homepage say?
- How do customers compare service businesses online before they call?
- How should you describe your services on your website?
Websites, upgraded or built
Most businesses do not need a new website. They need the one they have to load fast, say clearly what they do and ask the visitor to take one step.