One Simple Phrase To Kick You Competitors Butt!

It’s kinda funny how many pictures end up in this newsletter, that are taken with my Blackberry Curve, as I’m going about my day. For example I snapped this photo in “Woosta” Mass.  as I’m sitting at a stop light sucking down a “Great One” (20oz of caffeine) from Dunkin Donuts. It say’s, “We return calls”  That slogan is kinda corny but it the truth … Most companies can not or will not return phone calls.  Shame on you if you don’t! This is a very easy opportunity to really make a big difference in your bottom-line just by having yourself or a person on your staff to return all calls.  How many time have you heard from prospects that they’ve called so & so company 5 times for a service call but no one ever called them back to schedule a service call.  Unfortunately, “we returns calls”  is in fact a USP “unique selling proposition” in the security market. This is one area where a little bit of competence, honesty and responsibility will keep you flooded with business for months and years to come. The term  USP was created  by a New York City marketing wizard by the name Rosser Reeves. In fact, this guy  is credited as one of the great influences in marketing.
Mr. Reeves was born in Danville, Virginia in 1910, the son of a Methodist minister.
His first job after leaving the University of Virginia was as a reporter for the Richmond Times-Dispatch. Reeves quickly realized the pay for newspaper reporting was lower than he wanted so he turned to advertising.  Oh, and by the way, the sales & marketing profession is one of the highest paying professions  in this country and it will always be this way. He/she who can create the leads can also create the gold!
In 1934, he moved to New York and worked as a copywriter for several companies before landing a job at Ted Bates and Co. Advertising Agency in 1940.
In the 1950’s, Rosser Reeves becomes a thumping success, creating history and demolishing icons of creativity on the way. He was the vice-president and copy chief of Ted Bates and Co. for six years, and then became the chairman of the board in 1955.
He wrote his first book in 1961, Reality of Advertising. This book laid out the selling technique that he is famous for: the Unique Selling Proposition (USP).
He defines a USP has having three (3)  parts: Now please pay attention about what the Security Marketing Guru is gonna reveal to you here!

1)Each ad must make a proposition — “Buy this product and you get these benefits”.

2)The proposition must be unique — something that your competitors do not, cannot or will not offer.

3)The proposition must sell — it must be something prospects really want; it pulls them over to your product.

In essence, a USP briefly and clearly explains a single quality about your product that lets it stand out against the competition.
The most memorable USP Reeves developed was the one for M&M’s. At the time, M&M’s was one of the first sugar-coated chocolate candies on the market. So Reeves wrote, “It melts in your mouth, not in your hands.”
Utilizing USP’s, the Bates agency leaped to be the fifth largest advertising agency in the world, handling such accounts as Warner-Lambert Pharmaceutical, Brown and Williamson Tobacco Products, Mobil Oil, and the Chase Manhattan Bank.
In 1965 he was inducted into the Copywriter’s hall of fame. However a year later he astonished everyone by resigning after explaining that he had always wanted to retire at the age of fifty five, and find serenity.
Reeves died in 1984 but his concept of USP revolutionized marketing forever.
Domino’s Pizza grew because of a USP (“Hot, fresh pizza delivered in 30 minutes or less, guaranteed”).
FedEx became popular because of a USP (“When it absolutely, positively has to be there overnight”) So have other companies with a USP.
How about this for a creative take on the Fedex slogan that you can implement right away in your biz with no thinking on your part.  Here it goes… “When it absolutely, positively has to be protected call Electronic Security Group  @ 1-800 -ESG-Help-Me (1-800-555-1212). Ask about our employee theft elimination discount!”