Sell Feelings Not Facts

I've been hearing for years that a successful business needsto have a USP (unique sales point). The problem is that mostbusinesses find difficulty in identifying what their USP is.And even if they have a USP, eventually they find theircompetitors doing the same thing.

So instead of losing sleep wondering what your USP could be,far better to think about what your ESP (emotional salespoint), could be.

Your ESP is about how your customers feel when they dealwith you. How they feel when they use your product orservice.

A USP could be - "We have a 24 hour delivery service"The ESP would be - "You'll be enjoying our product the dayafter ordering it"

A USP - "Our prices are very competitive"The ESP - "You'll feel you've received value for money ifyou buy this"

As all good sales people know, we don't sell a feature (USP)we sell a benefit (ESP).

Customers don't buy Nike clothing because there made fromquality materials, they buy Nike because they want to feellike Tiger Woods on the Golf course or Andre Aggasi on thetennis court.

They don't buy Microsoft products because of all theresearch they've done, they buy them because they feel goodabout them.

Start to think what your ESP is. What does your product orservice do that makes your customers feel secure,comfortable, acceptable to others, admired, stylish,wealthy, important, happy, relaxed or sexy.

For those of you selling engineering or technical productsand think this isn't for you - think again.

Some years ago I worked as a Sales Engineer for Loctiteindustrial adhesives. On several occasions I proved toengineers through numerous tests, how my product could savetime and money over the assembly methods they were using.

Many engineers agreed with all the test results however theyoften rejected the product on the basis that it didn't FEELright for them. I realised then that I needed an ESP to overcome thisresistance.

So there you have it - always remember that a customer willmake an emotional decision before a logical one, whateverthey're buying - so what's your ESP?