Identify Your Unique Selling Proposition Episode 005 SEE THE SHOW NOTES AT: www.puttingheadsonbeds.com/005 Stephanie Thomas: Hello, it s Stephanie here and welcome back to another episode of my Putting Heads on Beds podcast. I hope you ve had a great couple of weeks. I hope that if you listened in to the last episode, you ve been putting in place the tools and the strategies that I shared to help you optimise your website and attract more potential guests and increase bookings through your site. So, I hope you re already starting to see some results from those changes. Over the past 7 years, I have worked with lots and lots of accommodation providers and most of them have been in pretty popular visitor destination areas so they ve been in amongst a lot of other B&B s or Inns or they ve been in an area where there s lots of different self-catering establishments. And this means there s a lot of competition. And in a world where people have such easy access to so many different options, and they can access through their mobile phone, their tablet, their desktop a whole host of different places that they can stay. So how in the world, does someone convince them that actually they are the best option for them, their place is the best place to stay? Page 1
When I m working 1-2-1 with my private clients, one of the first things we work on is their Unique Selling Proposition because when they know what that is it helps them to convince potential guests in all their marketing messages why their establishment is different from and better than any of their competitors. And I m pretty sure that you are in exactly the same position it s unlikely that you re the only accommodation provider in your area. If you are, please don t stop listening to this podcast because actually what I m going to share with you is going to help you improve your marketing message anyway. But I think you re probably in an area where you have competitors and so this week I thought it would be good to dive a little deeper into Unique Selling Propositions and to help you to identify yours. So, what exactly is a Unique Selling Proposition? We ve all heard the term but so many people don t REALLY know what it means. First off, if the word selling turns you off, then think of it instead as your unique market proposition. To be honest with you, it s not about selling, it s simply about differentiation. Your Unique Selling Proposition (your USP) is what makes your business stand out. It s what makes you different and earns you a special place in the minds of your potential guests. It s what makes your establishment so unique that it motivates people to choose you over other places to stay. I like to think of your overall USP as your reason for being. Think about it from a potential guest s point of view with hundreds of potential options out there, you need to be able to answer their question of why should I book with you. Page 2
If you don t answer that question quickly, your potential guests will move on. It s really that simple. It s a very competitive marketplace for any accommodation business and with so many people offering similar services to you, you need to do your very best to differentiate yourself from the competition. The biggest challenge in getting to the top in any market is getting through the crowd at the bottom. You have to somehow stand out from the crowd and that s what I want to cover with you in this episode. To be perfectly honest with you, most accommodation providers are all saying the same thing when it comes to marketing their businesses, they ll mention the quality of their rooms, their great location, delicious breakfast and that they offer value for money. Same old, same old! I m sorry but I m being really honest here, it really is a sea of sameness out there. For you to stand out from the crowd you need to say something that is unique and different from everybody else. But how do you find your USP. Well, I ll warn you now, it s not a simple exercise. It will take some time as well as effort on your part but I really can t emphasise enough that you do this because it s a great tool to get you to define what makes you and your establishment special, what makes you different from all the rest? I can t tell you enough, how much easier it is to sell what you offer when you are REALLY clear about exactly what you do for your guests that s superior or different from your competitors. Page 3
Believe me, this is a real game changer and this is why, when I work 1-2-1 with clients it is one of the first things we work through together. There is a tremendous amount of choice when it comes to places to stay but when you know exactly who your target market is, what their REAL needs and requirements are and what you offer that exactly meets those needs and requirements then you can put that information across in a way that makes you and your business stand out from the crowd. This makes choosing you from all the others a very easy decision for potential guests! So how do you work out exactly what you offer? Well, don t panic, because you don t have to do this by yourself. I m going to help you to do this. I ve put together a free blueprint to help you find your USP, which will really contribute to your business success. First I have a couple of disclaimers. Disclaimer #1: There is no one way to identify your Unique Selling Proposition. There are many different ways to do this. I m just going to give you my proven step-by-step map to help you do this it s the formula I created when I was trying to identify my own USP back in my days as a B&B owner and it s the formula that I ve used to help lots and lots of clients identify theirs. Disclaimer #2: As I ve already mentioned, this is going to take some work and commitment to get this done. If you really have the will and passion to build your business and to boost bookings, please put the time aside to work on this. Page 4
If you want a visual for the blueprint I m going to lay out in this episode, then definitely grab this week s freebie. I ve put everything inside a PDF so that you can go to it when you re ready to implement. You re going to want to take some notes right now and that s fine. But you can have my blueprint right in front of you because that will take you through everything step by step. So to grab that go to download Simply follow these steps in my blueprint to help you create a powerful USP that will really help boost your bookings. When you are identifying your USP you need to think about why I, your ideal guest, should choose to book with you instead of any other establishment that might have vacancies. Why should I choose you? It s not enough to just do what you do. You have to really think about why people should actually give you money. You need to be able to answer that clearly. As I shared earlier, with most businesses the answer boils down to one thing book with us because we re pretty much the same as everybody else. With you I want you to tell everyone what makes you different. Now a little tip here, as you work through this, think what people say about you, what reviews and testimonials you receive. Think about what your guests say to you when they re staying with you. I t s time for you to think about who you are, what you stand for and why people should pay attention and spend money with you as opposed to any of the other choices they ve got. Page 5
Nowadays when someone is looking for somewhere to book, they have got so much choice in front of them. Your ability to cut through that, through all the google search results and marketing messages, to emerge from the crowd at the bottom and be somewhere near the top will be greatly aided by identifying your USP. So, let s dive in. The first step is that you really need to be clear on who your target market is. You need to know exactly who your ideal guests are and you really need to know them. In my experience, many business owners make the mistake of not having a target market and this makes marketing very difficult and often completely non-effective. When you try to attract everyone, anyone or someone to stay with you, the result is that, more often than not, you attract no-one. I cannot emphasise enough the importance of having a clear target market if you want to grow your business significantly. But what exactly is a target market? Well, your target market is a specific group of people who visit your area and who need accommodation just like yours that meets their specific needs and requirements. You need to take the time to understand exactly who your target market is and drill it down even further by identifying your ideal guest. Page 6
The next step, Step 2, is to identify what your ideal guest would be looking for when searching for somewhere to stay in your location. Now whatever you do here, don t start writing nice rooms, high quality facilities or car parking. This is not what I mean. I want you to get into your ideal guest s mind for a moment and think about what their individual needs are or what challenges they face when looking for somewhere to stay. What are they really buying when they book somewhere to stay? If you think about it, it s not just about having a somewhere to stay. It s more about getting an important outcome fulfilled. People buy outcomes. They buy the important results they want. At the same time, they are faced with the challenge of making sure that they book somewhere that not only meets their individual needs but actually exceeds them. They want somewhere that really delivers what it promises plus a little bit more. Let me give you some examples: If you cater for adults and your target market is busy professional couples then their desired outcomes of a break away might be to return home relaxed and refreshed having thoroughly enjoyed unwinding in peaceful surroundings, spending quality time together and taking things at a slower pace. At the same time, they will want somewhere to stay that, as a minimum, offers an equivalent level of comfort and standard as their own home but they will worry about picking somewhere that fails to hit the mark. Page 7
If, on the other hand, your target market is working parents who constantly feel guilty that they never spend enough time with their children, then their desired outcome of a break will be to return home feeling guilt-free having spent quality, uninterrupted time together as a family knowing that their children have had a fun packed holiday. Again, this group will be worried that the place they pick to stay in won t provide all the facilities they might require as a family and that they may end up staying somewhere where the owners don t really love and welcome children as much as they said. Again, they ll also worry that maybe the establishment will under deliver on what it promises. And, finally, if your target market is business travellers then they will want to stay somewhere where, after a long working day, they can comfortably unwind having all the facilities they need to complete or prepare their workload for the next day before enjoying a relaxed evening meal either with you or at a nearby restaurant or inn before settling down for a peaceful and comfortable night s sleep. They will want to leave the next morning fully refreshed, focused and re-vitalise d ready to start a new day. This group would be worried that they won t be able to find somewhere good to eat nearby and will be concerned about being disturbed by late night guests, early risers or excitable children. Whatever your target market, if you re able to get closer to how your potential guest thinks than anyone else, if you know more about the guest than anyone else does, well then you re on a home run. Page 8
The aim of any marketing is to know and understand the guest so well that your establishment just kind of sells itself. The biggest reason so many accommodation providers only just survive in business is because they don t think like a guest. So, it really is important to understand the fundamentals. When you understand the fundamental outcomes that your ideal guests are looking for when they search for somewhere to stay it makes creating your Unique Selling Proposition easy and you will have a far greater chance of influencing them to stay with you. If you re struggling with this step think about what the main problems or frustrations you hear that your guests have had with other B&B s, hotels or accommodation establishments. They will always mention an awful place or a problem they ve had with another establishment. Listen to what they say. Or why not take it one step further and do an online survey it would be quite simple to do something in Survey Monkey and then post it out via Social Media and ask people what problems or frustrations they have when looking for somewhere to stay. Survey Monkey is a great free tool for doing simple online surveys - I ll put a link to SurveyMonkey in the notes for you. Once you ve identified your target market and identified the outcomes they are REALLY seeking when choosing accommodation in your area, then you can move onto step three. And Step 3 is to identify how you and your establishment can satisfy those outcomes, or in other words what benefits you offer. Basically, you need to be able to clearly explain what a guest gets from choosing to stay with you that they could not get from somewhere else (i.e. what sets you apart from your competition). Page 9
Again, thinking from the guests perspective, these benefits should explain why your services are important to them and why they should stay with you. You need to explain how your offering meets their exact needs or desired outcomes. The fourth step is to create your promise. A big part of a successful USP is making a pledge to your guests. This needs to be implied instead of spelled out in your USP, but you should also be marketing it elsewhere as a stand-alone promise. Here s a couple of examples of ones that I ve worked on with private clients to help get the creative juices flowing We are committed to providing an excellent experience for every guest, every time. Our promise to you is simple but meaningful: When you visit us, whether it be for a night, a short break or a week s holiday, we promise that you ll be well fed and very well looked after. We are committed to doing our utmost to make your stay a relaxing and enjoyable experience and our aim is to make your visit a lasting memory you will cherish forever. Take some time to think about your promise and make sure it talks to your ideal guests. That s really important. Step 5 is to take all the information you ve gathered in Steps 1 to 4, and, combine everything into a paragraph. There should be some recurring ideas and thoughts so you ll want to start merging statements and rewriting in a way that flows and makes sense. Page 10
And when you ve done that it s time to cut it all down even further. In Step 6 you need to take that paragraph and condense it even more into just a sentence or two. You want your final USP to be as specific and as simple as possible. Whatever you do, take your time doing this step and do several versions over the course of a week. Eventually you ll come up with your final draft USP. Once you ve done that I want you to ask yourself one question. Your USP should answer the most fundamental question that every potential guest needs to know: Why should I stay with you? Does it convince people in 30 seconds to book with you by telling them something great you offer but your competitors don t? It should communicate the most powerful benefit or advantage you can offer to prospective or existing guests over and above your competitors. You must determine what they re not getting from anyone else or what will solve their major fears or frustrations and offer it to them in your USP! Does your draft USP do that? If it doesn t then I recommend you go back to Step 1 and start again, this time really focusing on who your target market is and what their needs and requirements are. Don t forget to ask questions in the Creating Bookings Community I m there to help. If it does, then move onto the last few steps in the blueprint. Step 8 is where I want you to test and measure your USP. Once you have a working USP, it's always a good idea to sleep on it, run it by others and even ask guests their thoughts to measure the impact it has. Page 11
It may take several tries, but once you hit the perfect USP, it will be an integral element of your Marketing Blueprint. And then you re at the final hurdle. It s time to integrate your USP everywhere. Once you ve developed your Unique Selling Proposition, your job is to communicate it clearly and often. You have to use it to constantly remind people of what you stand for. Tell them in no uncertain terms on a regular basis why your establishment is different and why they should choose you. Your USP needs to be found in all your marketing materials, from your advert in a tourist guide through social media to your website. It should even be included on your stationery. If your USP is good and it works you need to start shouting it from the roof tops. You can never wear it out. Your final task is to write a list of all your marketing pillars, all the different places you market your business, and start adding your USP to each one. So, there you have it, your USP blueprint. Remember, I have all of this outlined for you in a very stylish PDF. All you need to do is go to www.puttingheadsonbeds.com/005download and I will send you the PDF right away. I created this blueprint because I want you to identify your USP. I want you to work through it and come out with an amazing USP at the end of it. So, you might be asking yourself, do you really need a USP could you succeed without a dynamite USP? Yes, of course it s possible to succeed without a great unique selling proposition. It s possible, but it s definitely not as easy. Page 12
Identifying your USP will help you to gain serious momentum. Is it the be all and end all? Will it bring unlimited guests to your door? Let s not get that crazy. Obviously, you still need to market your business effectively and provide an amazing guest experience but I believe that your Unique Selling Proposition will help set you up for success from the get go so you re not crossing your fingers hoping that someone will simply know how great your place is. You ve got to tell them how good you are because otherwise how will they ever know? Thank you so much for being here with me here. I ve gone through this quite quickly, there s a lot to cover and I ve put together the guide to help you so grab that and I m here to help you. Head over the Creating Bookings Community and ask your questions. In my next podcast, I m going to go through a simple step by step process to creating a guarantee that will help you and your business to stand out from the crowd and that will help to seriously increase bookings. I can t wait to speak to you again in two weeks time. In the meantime, have a great couple of weeks. Bye for now. Page 13