Imagine it’s the mid 90’s and you are wandering through your local music store. You pass dozens of albums until an album cover grabs your attention. You look at the cover and you have a general idea of what type of music it is, but how do you really know?

Well lucky for you, all the way back in 1990 Bell Biv Devoe released their debut album “Poison” with a clear description of what their music sounds like. In the bottom right corner of their album cover, it says, “Our music is mentally hip-hop, smoothed out on the R&B tip with a pop feel appeal to it.”

That is Bell Biv Devoe’s (BBD’s for you hardcore fans out there) version of their Unique Selling Position (USP).

What is a USP you may be asking? According to Dan Kennedy, a USP should answer the question, “Why should I, your prospect, choose to do business with you versus any and every other option?” Plain and simple, what makes you different from everyone else selling the same thing as you?

If you have a business (or a 90’s hip-hop trio) and you don’t have a clearly defined USP, you will have trouble telling people why they should go to you instead of your competitors.

BBD went out of their way to tell everyone what made them unique (and I am guessing it worked since the album went quadruple-platinum).

At a glance, do your prospects know what makes you unique?