How to Craft a Unique Selling Proposition (USP) That Drives Your Company's Lighting Sales

Making the initial contact with a prospective buyer is only half the battle when selling lighting systems and services. Whether you contact the prospect by phone, email, direct mail or other methods, you must then convey the value of your lighting company's product or service. Prospects typically won't purchase a product or service unless they believe it's valuable and can benefit their respective business. While not all prospects whom you contact will make a purchase, you can increase your chances of getting a sale by crafting the right unique selling proposition (USP).

What Is a USP?

Also known as a unique selling point, a USP is a sales message that explains what makes a product or service unique from similar products or services on the market. Regardless of what your lighting company sells, there are probably other companies that sell similar products or services. Very few B2B companies operate uncontested in their market. As a result, you must explain to prospects how your lighting company's products or services differ from its competitors -- and that's where a USP comes into a play.

With a USP, prospects will recognize the uniqueness of your B2B company's products or services. This otherwise simple massage tells prospects how a product or service sold by your B2B company is unique.

The Importance of a USP

Creating and using a USP is important for several reasons. For starters, it allows you to distinguish your lighting company from its competitors. According to some reports, there are over 10 million B2B companies operating in the United States. Of course, not all of these B2B companies sell the same products or services. Many of them, however, sell similar products or services. By creating and using a USP, prospects will recognize your B2B company's products or services as being unique from its competitors'.

You can also include your USP in a variety of marketing and sales material. When cold calling a prospect, for instance, you'll probably want to mention the product's or service's USP. If you're planning to send a followup email to the same prospect, though, you can mention the USP a second time.

Research Your Competitors' Products or Services

To craft an effective USP, you'll need to do a little research into your competitors' offerings. After all, the fundamental purpose of a USP is to convey the uniqueness of your lighting company's products or services. Unless you research your competitors' products or services, you won't be able to perform this task. So, prior to creating a USP for a given product or service, see if your competitors sell a similar product or service. If they do, compare its features and prices to that of your lighting company's product or service.

Mention Noteworthy Features

In a USP, you should mention any noteworthy features about your lighting product or service that distinguish it from similar products or services on the market. Assuming you researched your competitors' products or services, you should have a better understanding of what features make your lighting company's products or services unique. If you're creating a USP, mention these features while explaining how they can benefit the prospect's own business.

Highlight the Price

Along with noteworthy features, you should highlight the lighting product's or service's price in its USP. According to HubSpot, overcoming price objections is one of the three biggest challenges encountered by B2B sales reps, the other two being establishing urgency and making contact with prospects. If a prospect believes a product or service is too expensive or otherwise not worth the cost for which it's sold, he or she probably won't buy it. You'll have an easier time overcoming price objections, however, if you highlight the product's or service's price in its USP.

Don't just mention the price in the product's or service's USP. Rather, tell prospects the price of your lighting company's product or service while also comparing it to the price of your competitors' products or services. If your lighting company's product or service costs 20% less than a similar product or service sold by a competitor, prospects will recognize it as being more valuable, which may compel them to make a purchase.

Watch the Length

Longer USPs don't always perform better than shorter ones. If a USP is too long, prospects may lose interest in it. B2B buyers typically consist of C-level executives and other decision-makers who play an integral role in running their respective business. Therefore, most of them are busy professionals who have limited free time. If you create and use an excessively long USP, prospects may give you the cold shoulder.

How long should a USP be? There's really no universal length that works for all USPs. Some products and services will naturally require a longer than USP than others. With that said, you should keep your USPs concise while focusing on the lighting product's or service's noteworthy features, as well as price, so that prospects will recognize its uniqueness and value.