- If you are unique then as soon as you start telling people reasons why, somebody else will copy it and, alas, it is no longer unique.

- Most people realise above as soon as they start looking and instead of doing hard work they'll just slap a USP label on something that is 'me too' or mediocre.

- USPs feed many money-hungry textbook marketers with research, positioning and creative brainstorming projects. Then once somebody copies you it's back to drawing board and they can get paid all over again.

I want you to get notion of 'unique' out of your head by replacing it with 'decisive'. We'll look at how to achieve this shortly. Too many "textbook marketers", in my experience, really don't understand USPs. It's just another buzzword they throw at you to sound clever and important but under surface their USPs are usually little more than over-dressed features.

So What Should You Be Aiming For? Right, back to programme... I'd like you to ignore 'unique' and replace it with 'decisive'. I call this Decisive Power Point (DPP).

A "Decisive Power Point" is more effective than a "Unique Selling Point" for a number of reasons:

- Unique doesn't necessarily mean favourable to person choosing - Decisive does! - If all else is equal your DPP will tip scales in your favour - it will be deciding factor. - DPPs work from your client's viewpoint - they are triggers that help your client decide, not just things that you think are unique. - A decisive difference is much easier to find and maintain than a unique one.

So, don't settle for unique! Be decisive!

NOTE: An example of DPP chart can be found here... http://www.debbiejenkins.com/academy-pics/DAY17-dpp- example.gif Your goal is to have a benefit that is higher and further to right than three of your best competitors.

REPRINT GUIDELINES =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= You are free to publish following article in it's entirety in your eZine or on your website. Our only condition is that you MUST keep information about author,(c) notice and resource box at end intact. Please let us know when you use an article by sending us an email... mailto:howto@leanmarketingpress.com =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Another way of patronising your competitors is to actually give them your patronage. That is buy something that they've got in order to really check out how good or bad they are. And if you're feeling really mean become customer from hell and complain tirelessly.

5. Steal Their Customers ------------------------------------------- Nothing works better than this for causing trouble. If your competitors are worthy then you'll have trouble coercing their best customers away but it's still possible. Even if they're doing a bad job, people will need a pretty good reason (ie they mess up or you offer something much better) to do something different.

So a stealthy approach would be to seduce a member of their team (preferably with a customer-facing/sales role) over to your company. If person you head-hunt has good customer relationships, then customers will follow them as if by magic. If you think this approach is unethical then it probably is - don't do it. I don't believe I'm in a position to judge your morals or ethics so I include this tactic so that you can decide for yourself.

Another trick that works is to set up Free trials/audits designed to point out flaws in work of your competitors without ever naming them. Then, once you've scared customer enough, they'll be more inclined to consider better alternative - ie you.

A Final Word Of Warning ------------------------------------------- As you can imagine, these dangerous tips can quite easily cause a war with your competitors - which is almost always destructive. So take my advice; only use my dangerous tips if you're attacked first and when you've struck a telling blow, let it go and get on with being your best.

REPRINT GUIDELINES =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= You are free to publish following article in it's entirety in your eZine or on your website. Our only condition is that you MUST keep information about author,(c) notice and resource box at end intact. Please let us know when you use an article by sending us an email... mailto:howto@leanmarketingpress.com =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=