Question

Topic: Strategy

How Good Is My Usp?

Posted by Anonymous on 1/11/2009 at 5:39 AM ET 500 Points
Market description (we assume that our competitors do the same):

"Our customers have mid-size projects (1000-3000 staff-hours, $40-200K) they outsource to us with firm fixed-price contracts. We act as a general contractor responsible for building a team of remote specialists, project management and in-time delivery. Our customers stay actively involved into internal management and technical aspects of the project. They use our project performance information for the management of their business. Our processes are compliant with CMMI and ISO 9001 requirements, we adhere to RUP and PMBOK principles.

USP:

"We implement full-scale project management and make its every last detail valuable and easy-to-understand by means of instant automated metrics."

This is our USP, which differs us from other competitors. What do you think about it? Is it clear enough?
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RESPONSES

  • Posted by wnelson on 1/11/2009 at 7:47 AM Accepted
    Clear enough - Yes. I understand it. Is it good enough? This is a question for your customers. First, do they have a need for "full scale project management and automated metrics?" Second, are they willing to buy your service over your competitors' because you have it and they don't. The real test here is how valuable is this point? Are they willing to pay you more than they do your competition who lack this? Or at the least, if all other things are equal - price, on-time delivery, etc - can you unseat the incumbent supplier with this point? If your unique selling point holds no value for your customers, then it isn't good enough. Do your customers ask for automated metrics?

    The worth of a USP goes beyond the words you use. It can be clear and precise, but not "good enough" because the customers don't care. Suppose I supply writing tablets to office workers. My tablets are exactly the same as all of my competitors in all respects. However, I supply exact dimensions of each and every tablet - thickness, length, width - to within one micron. This information will be supplied per each tablet on a sticker on the back. No other supplier does this. That's my USP. What do you think? It's clear and precise, right? Is it good enough? Probably not because very few office workers care about that level of accuracy in dimensions for a tablet.

    So my question to you is: Since last question, have you actually gone out an asked a customer about your USP? What do they say? They are the important ones with whom to consult on this. To answer your question, you may want to put together a survey of key attributes of general contractors for mid-size projects, including automated metrics and ask about their satisfaction for you for these attributes on a 5-7 point scale, for the top 2-3 of your competitors on a 5-7 point scale, and ask about the importance on a 5-7 point scale. If your USP scores high in importance, high for you, low for your competitors, then you have a USP that would appear to be "good enough." Until you've done this, your exercise here is only in vocabulary and grammar.

    I hope this helps.

    Wayde
  • Posted on 1/11/2009 at 8:54 AM Author
    Wayde, thanks, you're very helpful. What if the product is new (no customers saw it before) and it's unique (no competitors have the same) - how can I get information about customer needs? Who shall I interview?
  • Posted by CarolBlaha on 1/11/2009 at 9:28 AM Accepted
    YOu find the information by getting face to face with potential customers. ANd again, USP's are fluid. You need more than one. For example, I maintain a manufacturer rep agency. All of my manufacturers have great USP's. More than one, and it depends on the customer's wants and needs which one I use. For some, its our great warranty-- unique to the biz and how I sell against my competitors. To some, its the enviro attributes. Some like the breadth of line and one stop shopping. But some just want low price. And some of them so low, that they aren't my target client. But if I can relate the warranties to life cycle costs, I can tip some. The only way I know what will jazz them is to get in front of them. Your USP is the results attained by your "instant automated metrics" and I imagine that could mean different things to different people and the problem you are solving.

    You have a great service, have defined what is unique to your industry, the next step is to go out and set appointments and talk to prospects. You'll continue to fine tune what you have started and have a toolbox of USP's to differentiate yourself further.
  • Posted by wnelson on 1/11/2009 at 10:43 AM Member
    The product may be "new." But what you are talking about is not new. What is "new" is that you can automate the process of providing the data - yes? This just makes it "easier" to get the data.

    You are venturing away from your question of USP into something more basic - that should have been done before the product was developed. Since you have no customer feedback on your product/service, I am assuming that your techy guys invented a "way cool" product/service/concept and now the marketing guys are asked to "find a home" for it. Wrong way to go about it, but, it happens very frequently in the tech area. The right way around it is first to define your customers. You have a start on this: companies who outsource their fixed price mid-sized software projects of the range 1000-3000 staff-hours, $40-200K. You need a little more definition to identify a company like this - what industries, what size company, etc. But, it's a start. Next, you define their needs. You do this through interviews and surveys. Then, you look at the competitive landscape to see how well they meet the customers' needs and where they miss. Based on this and your company's core competencies, then you develop a product strategy to meet those needs better than you competitors. It is THIS process that develops your unique selling points. Thus far, you are confusing unique selling point and unique features. A unique feature is only a unique selling point of someone actually wants it.

    The other thing you are missing in your analysis is customer benefit. Benefits (emotional benefits first and then functional benefits) are why people buy, not features. If your unique feature does not result in a strong emotional and functional benefit, then the feature is not a unique selling point, but a piece of trivia - the exact dimensions of a tablet to the nearest micron. Needs that are satisfied benefit your customers.

    Who you interview? Start with your present customers. You state: i>Our customers stay actively involved into internal management and technical aspects of the project. They use our project performance information for the management of their business Ask them why? What is the benefit of this active involvement and how does the performance data benefit their business? What is the true need? Are they not getting enough project data today? From our previous discussion, you know I was once an engineering manager for software and hardware projects. I outsourced projects. For mid-sized projects, what I needed to know during was "Is the project on time, on budget, and delivering the results I need?" As I am choosing a contractor, however, I would expect that the contractor would measure these metrics. I would expect that the contractor would be able to demonstrate the metrics are not only measured, but used to control and continuously improve their business. This is important to me because it costs me to look for contractors for software. I want the contractor to be a partner. So, long term, I want the contractor to be in control and improve so that he makes money and stays vital and to improve so that long term, he can reduce my development costs.

    The only time I was concerned about these "internal" measurements in real time was if the supplier fell off track for one or more of these parameters, then I'd get involved in their internal business and begin looking at lines of code per hour, defects per line of code, code coverage, reuse, documentation, etc. But IF I had to get involved at this level, the software contractor is in trouble. Having the ability to dig into the contractor's business deeply, to me, would be deeply troubling! Providing that capability would seem to say that the contractor a) wasn't confident in his own ability to stay on track, and b) has fallen off track before and had to have his customer save the day. This is like supplying a button with medicine that will call the ambulance in case there are side effects.

    As I said before, perhaps I am not typical of your customers. Go have discussions with your present customers. If you don't have enough of them for significant input, then look outside of that circle to potential customers. Call on them and ask them the questions.

    wayde
  • Posted by CarolBlaha on 1/11/2009 at 11:54 AM Member
    Wayde is right, and to add and putting it simply--

    When you are developing an idea for a biz, or a new revenue stream, you do a business plan. This is what he is saying in that "this is done first, not after". In this planning and evaluating this service, you define the niche. That is who you should contact to see what jazzes them-- and if your USP does. You also evaluate your competitors and services out there-- the SWOT. Then you know your competitors strengths and weaknesses and know how unique your USP is. Not from wording, but from the eye of the end user.
  • Posted by CarolBlaha on 1/11/2009 at 12:13 PM Member
    A very simple way is to do a "ride along" with your salespeople. Have them plan an agenda of sales calls with existing and potential customers. Target together a client for initial presentation. Remind them (and if they're pros they know this) sell the appointment and the appointment only. For the existing clients -- talk just about the industry in general. Ask them what your company could be doing better. For the potential just watch the sales rep in motion. Listen to how he sells, the hot buttons he hits on, the questions he asks, the objections and how he handles them.
  • Posted by matthewmnex on 1/13/2009 at 8:21 PM Member
    Always remember that, at the end of the day, projects are managed by people, not by software.

    Efficient project management is in great demand.

    If you have the people and the skills to deliver projects on time and on budget, then you have a winner. In the end, what will sell for you is your reputation in the business.

    Build a portfolio of 'Satisfied' customers who come back to you time and time again and who will write testimonials about how great your service is.

    Don't try to sell a magic wand solution because any company with experience will know that there are none.

    Just offer a truly effective service with a srong GUARANTEE of success.

    When it cones to project management, most companies are less concerned about price than they are about ROI.

    Good luck.
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