Unique Selling Proposition Definition
The simplest definition that I have read of Unique Selling Proposition Definition is this:
“what you have that competitors don’t.
Unfortunately for me, that simple sentence triggered all sorts or negative responses in the past. When I was new in my entrepreneurship, the word “competitors” made my heart sink. I knew Bristol had a plethora of coaches working within it’s city confines and the notion that I was ‘in competition’ with any of them terrified me. I recognised that within the spaces between ‘me’ and ‘them’, I could write all sorts of narratives about how professional, exceptional and wealthy these individuals were. In all of these stories, they were WAY more professional, exceptional and wealthy than I could ever be!
This is where the internet is both an asset and a curse. I could see these competitors existed, but conversely I knew nothing real about them. A very wise mentor of mine made two suggestions: Firstly, that competitors are a good thing and prove there is a market. Secondly that it would serve me to dispel some of the un-truths that I had been telling myself about ‘them’. How could I dispel the untruths? I would have to meet with “them”. The Internet did at least make these coaches easy to contact. There were inevitably only two outcomes to all of the meetings that I had: Either, we would meet and I would find a part-time coach hiding behind a very professional website. Or, in the second case scenarios, I met fabulous coaches who offering an entirely different service to me. Neither set of coaches were any threat to me. These coaches have remained allies and the cross-referrals that happen, in both directions, just keep on coming.
In the meeting with ‘them’, the competition, not only did I gain colleagues and team-players, but i also gained a really clear picture of my own USP. There are as many coaching styles as there are coaches. Each will meet the needs of a quite distinct client base. In meeting with these other coaches I was given the chance to define what I was not. Out of this comes the definition of what I WAS becoming. As a career coach, I don’t work with C.Vs or interview techniques, this is not where my passion lies. As a career coach, the work I really do it in the exploration of what it is that drives a person to want do a particular thing. As a career coach my Unique Selling Proposition Definition lies in identifying the professional purpose of each client. My USP is that this is deep career work and the outcome will sustain you for the rest of your working life.
My guidance to you, if you too are terrified of your competition, is to feel the fear and befriend them. You never know just what gifts The Competition will bring to you. They might just provide you with the chance to play with your own Unique Selling Proposition Definition. Explore here to learn more of career coaching with Rebecca and here for a glimpse into her coaching world.