How To Convert Prospects into Clients Using Your Unique Selling Proposition

Goods at ‘the lowest price’ is Walmart’s USP while Nike’s value proposition is offering the highest quality shoes for athletes and fitness enthusiasts.

USP or Unique Selling Propositions help customers who have an overwhelming array of options, quickly understand how a brand or is different than another. The USP of a brand guides them to make a purchase decision.

Knowing how to position yourself as an executive coach can make all the difference between blending in and standing out. Your unique selling point differentiates you from the crowd and defines why your clients should choose you in a homogenous market.

Therefore, having a strong USP is vital because “if you don’t distinguish yourself from the crowd, you’ll just be the crowd.” 

How to develop a strong USP

What are the characteristics of a strong USP?

A strong USP is one that emphasizes your uniqueness and shows your potential clients an instantly recognizable benefit.

A compelling USP has these attributes:

• Easy to understand and concise – Long winding, confusing, and complex USP will fail to articulate exactly what you do.
• Truly unique – It’s called ‘unique selling point’ for a reason! If your USP is easy for others to replicate, it cannot be called unique.
• Assertive and credible: A strong USP makes a compelling case against competitors and is not generic or vague. Ex: Domino’s USP of ‘delivering fresh and hot pizza in 30 minutes or less’
• Has a built-in benefit: The benefit you offer must be what your target clients truly care about and inspire them to switch from a competitor to you.
• Not a slogan: While brands often convey their USP through a slogan, your unique selling point is much more than a tagline or slogan. Your USP guides all other aspects of your business right from your marketing strategy, coaching approach and the tools you use.
• Memorable: The USPs of established companies such as Nike, Tom Shoes or Walmart, have become synonymous with the brand. These impactful USPs pique the interest of people and succeed in converting them into customers.

Here are a few examples of strong USPs

• Dai Vernon, the magician: “The Man Who Fooled Houdini.”
• Life coach: “Coaching for women looking to kickstart their career after divorce.”
• Colgate – “Improve your mouth health in 2 weeks.”
• LLBean.com -“Free shipping to US and Canada every day. No minimum order, no end date.”

How Do I Create My USP?

While the USP sounds like a tagline or a phrase, it takes some time and effort to create an impactful value proposition.

It begins with identifying what your target clients want and how your unique skills or offerings help provide the same.

Follow these easy steps to create a powerful USP

1. Identify your target clients and their pain points: As an executive coach, you may be looking to attract high-value clients. Begin by creating a persona of your potential clients and list their pain points or what exactly they are looking for from a leadership coach.
2. Research the competitors: A competitor research will help you understand what others in your industry are offering and how you can be different from them. Make a list of the top ten competitors in your niche, visit their social media profiles and websites. Go through feedback and testimonials.
3. Identify your strengths: What are your strengths, talents and accomplishments? What are you passionate about?
4. Identify your level of expertise: Write down your qualifications, courses, credentials, training and experience in the corporate world.
5. List your unique selling points: Write down three to five unique benefits your potential clients will receive by working with you. These are the things other coaches in your niche do not offer. Avoid vague and meaningless words such as ‘the best coaching’ or ‘the most affordable coach.’
6. Write your USP: To be impactful, you don’t have to be the ‘best’. You merely have to be ‘different’ in a way that truly benefits your clients. Keep the USP short, concise and clear. Draft multiple versions of the USP and select the one that best represents your unique selling point. Take your time to come up with a robust USP designed to appeal and convert.

How do I use my USP to sell more of my coaching services?

The next step is to communicate your USP to your target clients.

How and where do I communicate my USP?

You can make use of both traditional advertising techniques and digital marketing platforms to communicate your USP. Here are the channels and methods you can use:

Traditional methods

• Direct mail – Leaflets, brochures or postcards
• Banners and display advertising
• Business cards

Digital marketing channels

• LinkedIn profile
• Website home and landing pages
• Email signatures
• Social media bios
• SMS marketing
• Video thumbnails
• Paid internet ads

How GCG’s 360 assessment tool helps you differentiate yourself

Your USP is what enables you to stand out from the crowd. An effective way to distinguish yourself from your competitors is to use GCG’s 360 assessment tool. 

The GLA360 measures the top 15 most important competencies for global leaders and shows them the areas they need to develop to win in a competitive business environment.

Offering the powerful assessment tool for free, that otherwise costs thousands, is a great way to differentiate yourself.

Unique benefits

• Gain 1-on-1 access -to the leader, the sponsor or higher-level decision-maker and the rest of the assessment respondents.
• Gain a competitive edge – A free GLA360 gets to the core of what your qualified leads are looking for: leadership development. Getting a positive response means you can focus solely on leaders that are most likely to convert.  
• Easy to administer -A seamless platform with automated processes makes it a breeze to add respondents.

The GLA 360 is the tool you need

• To offer a free, powerful 360 assessment tool for your clients. 
• a leveraging tool that will help you attract coaching clients during the sales process

The Global Leadership Assessment (GLA360) is an industry-leading 360 assessment tool designed on the basis of groundbreaking research across 100 countries.

Try out the GLA 360

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