In Part 2 of this deep dive into the power of the Unique Advantage Point, let’s look at how I found the best UAP for my business, and how you can use the same process to uncover your own. If you missed it, you can check out Part 1 as well!

Let’s not waste any time…

When I started my coaching and consulting company, I originally started off doing what everyone told me to do – be the best coach you can be. However, it wasn’t enough to offer an “advantage” because everyone claimed to deliver results. Initially, it was easy to get lost in the deep blue sea of other business consultants.

Then I asked myself, what advantage could I offer that was unique, bold, and different? Something my competitors aren’t saying?

Then it came to me… Because I know the impact my advice has on companies who properly apply the techniques, strategies, and ideas I share, I decided to do something most of my competitors would never dare do: I guaranteed my work.

My competitors thought I was crazy (even many well-known gurus advised me against it), but my clients ate it up! Now, instead of feeling like I’m always trying to sell myself, customers are driven to come to me – and my business has grown several hundred percent since I made that decision, and continues to grow year-after-year.

My UAP is built on the trust and relationships I have with my clients, and they value that immensely.

In fact, it’s not unusual for a client to tell me that they love me like a friend or a family member because they know I’m sitting on the same side of the table with them – and because we both have skin in the game, delivering results to my clients is my top priority.

Here are a few other examples and types of UAPs worth considering:

• Personality (Gary Vaynerchuk from WineLibraryTV.com made conventional wine buying fun)
• Convenience (Amazon.com offers easy ordering with 1-click mobile shopping and free 2-day shipping for Prime members)
• Selection (La Casa has the widest selection of whiskies from around the world)
• Guarantee (Zappos with their free shipping, free returns, and 365 day return policy)
• Warranty (Power Control Services, a B2B electronic repair company, warranties their repairs for life)
• Type of Materials (Dave Asprey of Bulletproof Coffee claims to have one of the only coffees that are free of mycotoxins)
• Time (The Earl of Sandwich claims to have come up with the original sandwich back in 1762)
• Giving Back (For each pair of shoes you purchase, Tom’s Shoes gives a pair of shoes for a child in need)
• Technology (RingCentral breaks down communication barriers to integrate text, mobile, landline, and other telecom services to help virtual teams succeed and grow)
• Experience (Jordan’s Furniture makes furniture shopping fun with a Mardi Gras party, trampoline school, and IMAX movie theatre in their store)
• Market (NerdFitness is a health and fitness site catering specifically to nerds)
• Features (Infusionsoft offers a 1-stop shop marketing automation tool for small businesses)
• Unique Attributes (The Ritz Carlton is the only hotel to ever receive the prestigious Malcom Baldrige National Quality Award by the United States Department of Commerce… and they won it twice)
• Price (Nino’s Pizza in NYC sells a $1,000 pizza, the most expensive pizza in NYC)
• Size (Denny’s Beer Barrel Pub in Pennsylvania is the home of the “World’s Largest Hamburger Challenge” and famous for its giant hamburgers)

So, let’s talk about how to create a unique advantage for your business.

Step 1: Identify Your Ideal Client

It’s hard to develop a “unique advantage” for your client if you don’t know who your client is.

Let’s face it, not every fish will take a worm… Every client has different preferences and advantages that they value over others.

Perhaps you’ve heard Pareto’s Rule before. If not, it says: 80% of your profits come from 20% of your customers or clients.

So, the first step is to identify who the top 20% of your clients are (that produce 80% of your profits) and determine what preferences they have in common.

Find out:

• What are the reasons your top clients chose to do business with you?
• What’s the problem you’re solving for them?
• What is the biggest benefit you’re providing for them?
• What’s the one feature, benefit, or service they love most about your business?
• How do they describe you to others?

You can do this is in survey form (like an email blast) – and if you do, the results will be satisfactory (not great). If you want the best response, however, pick up the phone. For some reason, a lot of business owners are scared to call their customers – let alone their best customers – but it’s the best way to do this type of research.

When you call your customers, thank them for their loyalty and tell them how much you value them. You’ll be surprised at what this does for your relationship with your customers – you’ll make them feel special, valued, and appreciated.

Do not (I repeat do not) skip this exercise, thinking you already know the answer. You are not your customer.

When I did this with my clients, I was totally surprised to get the responses I did. In fact, using the guarantee was one big advantage people loved, but it wasn’t the only unique advantage.

When I spoke with my best customers (and I’m talking about the ones who have paid me upwards of 6 figures and more), they said they chose me not just because of my guarantee, and not just because they felt I was the most qualified – but (and this was surprising to me) because they felt I made them a better version of themselves…

They felt I created a situation that offered them more confidence, more happiness, more peace of mind, and as one client told me, “Charlie, you have the ability to ‘bring back that spring in my step’ that I lost when my business got stuck.”

I never, ever would have guessed that… However, when people hear my story about traveling the world – having invested over half-a-million dollars in personal and professional development – it becomes one unique advantage that separates me from many others.

Again, you want as many UAPs as possible.

I can tell you, when I have my consulting clients do the same exercise for their businesses – in nearly every case, the response they thought they were going to receive and the response they actually got were two different things. Pick up the phone and talk to your best clients.

Step 2: Understand What You’re Selling

You may have heard the saying that people don’t walk into a hardware store to buy a drill – they want holes. We’re not talking about that… we’re not talking about the logical reasons people buy. We’re talking about the emotional reasons people buy.

People make buying decisions for two main reasons: inspiration and desperation. Put another way, to gain pleasure or avoid pain.

Now, because people are 10 times more likely to take action to avoid pain, your UAP is stronger when you identify the most significant areas of pain, trouble, or worry your ideal target market has right now, as they specifically relates to your product/service.

I have a B2B client who deals with Fortune 100 companies that don’t mind investing in a service that’s going to improve their bottom line.

However, the division heads at these companies noted that one area of pain is investing in services (like my client’s) and not knowing the direct impact it made on the team’s ability to more effectively and efficiently reach their goals.

As a result, I advised my client to develop a UAP that monitors and tracks performance using a number of proprietary tools that none of his competitors had access to.

This seems like common sense (and many UAPs are), but sometimes it takes a fresh perspective to illuminate the areas of opportunity that you might overlook.

Look beyond WHAT you sell, and go one level deeper to find out what you’re REALLY selling. How are you fulfilling lives in ways that go beyond just drilling holes?

Step 3: Identify The Benefits

Ask yourself: “What are the major benefits and/or results my prospect wants to attain with my product/service? How will their business/life be better off having used my product/service? How will this solve their pains, frustrations, and worries?”

What are the major benefits and/or results your prospect wants to attain with your product/service, and how will their business/life be better off having used your product/service?

I use a virtual assistant company in the United States. I didn’t hire them because of the logical reason of saving me time; I hired them because of the pain I experienced dealing with other VAs (namely, other companies didn’t take the time to understand my needs/preferences, I worried about putting them in contact with my prospects and clients, and other companies required more time and explanation from me to delegate a task).

The company I hired made the VA process easy, pleasurable, made me look good, and saved me time.

I didn’t join the 100 Club (a private dinner organization) because they offered the best meals in town. I joined to address the pain of lack of extraordinary service and an impressive (and quiet) place to take clients.

Therefore, their UAP addressed exclusivity and white glove service.

With one of the printers we use, I hired them not because they offered the highest quality printing, but because they addressed the challenge I had with finding a printer willing to handle large jobs AND fulfillment. Now my life is less stressful – so I can focus on the things that matter most to my business.

Step 4: Identify Competitors’ Unique Advantage Points

What do you believe your top 5 competitors’ unique advantage points are? Are they related to customer service, price, guarantee, selection, quality, convenience, turn-around time, a unique skill or talent, design, performance, or anything else?

Step 5: Must-Haves

What do you believe should be the top 5 features that any product or service like yours must have? For example, you could say that a financial advisor must be “fee-based” instead of commission, or vice versa.

Step 6: Find The Real Reasons

Survey your customers and ask them for the real reason why they chose to do business with you over and beyond anybody else in the marketplace. What do they feel makes you different than your competitors?

Step 7: Write Down Your Advantage

Now take everything you’ve identified through this exercise and write a compelling sentence (no more than 50 words long) that answers the question: “Why should I buy from you, right now, instead of one of your competitors?” The answer must be unique to your company and offer a significant advantage to your prospect.

For example:

Another example comes from CoffeeCup. In addition to a fun-loving team with affordable software, their UAP is:

“When you buy our software, you get support for life. With one of the most complimented support staffs on the web, we give you all the help you need with our support center, over the phone, and our user forums.”

Here’s another one from a friend who is a landscape contractor in the Midwest. His UAP for his prospect (a real estate developer is):

“Beautiful landscaping completed on-time, on-budget, and with your 100% satisfaction or you don’t pay a single penny for our labor!”

Notice that these are a lot different than a slogan. “Just Do It!” by Nike is clever, but it doesn’t offer a unique advantage.

So, what’s your Unique Advantage Point? Write it down…

You’re on the right track when you can complete this sentence:

I am the only [TYPE OF BUSINESS] in this space who [UAP].

Use this Unique Advantage Point™ throughout your marketing. Make it clear and obvious on your website. Educate your sales people and staff about your Unique Advantage Point.

Done well, the UAP will become one of your strongest assets. It’s like adding extra octane to your fuel tank, propelling you faster to rapid growth by taking the guesswork away from your prospects when they want to know “why should I do business with you?”

It truly is the key to unlocking massive potential in your business.

In your corner,

Charlie