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DID YOU SAY IT'S TOASTED?
Exploring the Unique Selling Proposition.

Back in the hey-days of cigarettes—the thirties and forties when it was chic to smoke—Lucky Strike launched an advertising campaign that boasted—"Lucky Strikes Are Toasted!"
    Of course they're toasted. All cigarettes are toasted.
    Ah, but the selling power of that single word—toasted—was powerful indeed. It conveyed a sense of deep, golden flavor, a scent of pleasantly curing leaves, a goodness like breakfast toast. And people bought cartons and cartons of Luckies.
    With the concept "toasted", the Lucky Strike folks used a Unique Selling Proposition to leverage product. You don't have to be the first one...you don't have to be the only one...you just have to be the one to say it—that's the essence of the Unique Selling Proposition.
   Platformate is another example of USP.
   All gasolines have additives to enhance performance. Shell Oil named one of these common additives "Platformate" and claimed it was the reason their gasoline outperformed those that didn't have it. When consumers clamored for Platformate-spiked fuel, competing oil companies cried foul. Shell won the court case, however, with the argument, "we never said the others didn't have the additive, we only said we did.
   The Unique Selling Proposition can be the savior of the me-too product or service. After you have searched and scoured your product (and your brain} to find what's different about your offering—and after you've come up dry for the nineteenth time—focus on what your product or service has that has gone unnoticed. It can be a simple, common additive—Platformate. Or a process—toasting. Remember, it needs to be unique only in its position, or selling proposition.
   Now add the sizzle. This may be as simple as naming something.
   A psychotherapist might position her service as "creative listening." Of course, she listens—that's what psychotherapists do! But by simply saying this, she touches a place of need in would-be clients—those folks who think they need someone to listen to them.
   The Unique Selling Proposition takes what can't be changed and exploits for what it is. In The Aladdin Factor, Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hanson tell a story of an insurance salesman who had been horribly disfigured in an accident. Plastic surgeons went as far as they could to restore the fellow's looks, but the result fell far short of handsomeness. The salesman was terribly sensitive about his looks, but he finally decided to try turing his liability into an asset. He put his photo on his business card and wrote: "I'm ugly on the outside, but I'm beautiful on the inside if you just get the chance to know me."
   This guy had something no other salesman had. And he took the risk of exploiting it. Sure, he also increased his chance for rejection, but one year later he was the top insurance salesman in Vancouver.
   Look for the USP when you want to position your product or service. And have the courage to use it.

PUSHING BUTTONS, CHANGING HABITS
Are You Prepared to Surprise Your Customers?

Bill Schweber, in Electronic Engineering Times magazine, relates a story about taking an elevator ride in a new office building. He entered the elevator, the door closed and he was startled to see that there were no buttons to push to chose his floor. Imagine his surprise.
   It turns out that the floor buttons were located outside the elevator, in the waiting area. A large sign proclaimed, "Push the button for your floor before getting in." Some riders either did not see the sign or ignored it. Imagine how they felt after they got in the elevator and the doors closed.
   What happened to the traditional button arrangement inside the elevator? According to Schweber, elevators are energy hogs. Processor based controls and advanced algorithms can operate elevators much more efficiently and cut down on the number needed—but only if riders inform the system, in advance of boarding, where they are and where they want to go. It is a positive change but it upsets long-established habits.
   If you require a major change in an operation of your business think about the consequences of the change upon your customers. You worked hard to implement the change and may be comfortable with it, but your customers may not be so accommodating.

THE CUSTOMER IS ALWAYS WRONG!
Don't Jump to Conclusions.

SMILE WHEN YOU SAY THAT!
Email Icons Can Transmit Feelings

Developed in the early days of email, "emoticons", "icons" or "smiley faces" were used to add a little life to the written word. There are literally thousands of these little beasts to chose from and an unlimited opportunity to create your own. Here are some of the more popular ones: