The Business Bulletin
Ask the experts Do you have a burning question that you would like the answer to? Or maybe you’re looking for some advice to help your business? In each edition some questions will be shared and answered by some of The Business Bulletin experts.
Q. What is a USP? A. A USP is a Unique Selling Point. It is something that helps you to stand out from the crowd and will help a prospective client to choose you over and above your competition. Creating or finding your USP has caused many of my clients’ great angst. They focus on what they do or what they sell and because there are a number of other businesses doing the same thing, they are not able to differentiate themselves. This was a problem I had when I first set up the business. I did a lot of
research into other sales trainers, who they were, what training they provided, etc, and saw that the vast majority of them had been doing it for years and were qualified trainers. I was not, and
advice from the photographer However…Stock images can be incredibly useful:
But, in the early hours of one morning, after very little sleep, something struck me and I went back to the list. What I discovered was that although they had been training for years and had formal qualifications, none of them were still selling and in fact one trainer had never sold in their lives! It was from this revelation that I am a salesperson first and a trainer second – in other words, when a salesperson that this still selling and has done so for nearly 26 years. The moral of this story is that your USP is not necessarily your product or service, it can be you, your background, experience and what
The Sales Ace
■ You’ll get expert insight and
back and I very nearly gave up.
people train with me they train with
Julie Futcher
company rather than generic
to be honest with you, it knocked me
my USP was born.
Contributing experts
■ They’ll be bespoke to your
you bring to the table. Julie Futcher, The Sales Ace
■ There are a wide range of very high-quality images available ■ There are price ranges to suit every budget ■ Not everything is suitable for a bespoke shoot ❙ Images of space (that NASA has available) for example can’t be found elsewhere ❙ Sending a photographer for a single shot of a French cheese market won’t be the best use of your budget (though if they spend the day there getting a wide range of shots it could be) ❙ Some themes (woods, flowers, pets, food, etc) are so widely available that a bespoke shoot may not be as necessary
Q. Should I use stock images in my marketing?
The key is to go with the best quality though – choose carefully
A. Yes and no. If your budget allows
and take your time, don’t just pick
for it I’d always suggest using a
the first image you see. And pay
photographer where you can because:
attention to the licences, they do
Mark Coster
■ You’ll get exactly what you want
tend to confuse people.
Pixooma
■ No-one else will have the same
Mark Coster
images
40 | Issue 6 – Sales and Marketing
Pixooma
