Your Unique Selling Proposition (USP) lets clients and candidates know why you’re better than or different from the competition. A USP helps them decide which staffing firm to choose out of all their options. And developing a good USP will make you stand out.Here’s how to do it:
1. Choose a niche. This is your target audience. You can’t recruit everyone and staff them everywhere. Working with specific people means you have specialized expertise—clients and candidates want someone who can give them exactly what they want. As an example, ASJ Partners does marketing only for staffing and recruiting firms…so we’re really good at understanding your needs and knowing what works in this industry.
This means you’ll exclude some people. That’s okay (as long as you don’t act snobbish about it). By focusing on a narrow segment of the market, you can serve that section well. And when you do that, you’ll build a reputation.
2. What does your audience want and need? Can you deliver it better than your competition? What benefits do you offer?
Let’s say you have a fast placement time—the fastest in the area you serve. That’s the advantage you have over your competition. But it’s not a benefit; it’s a feature. The benefit to your clients and candidates would be less wasted time and resources.
Make a list of everything your business has or is, and then figure out how that helps clients and candidates. Your USP must explain how you solve problems to give your audience what they need.
But what if you serve a common audience? Or what if you and the competition all work equally well?
3. See if you can do something different to stand out. Maybe you can take the standard interview process and turn it on its head. Maybe you should develop a personality—work with industry stereotypes and prove you don’t fit in the box. Maybe you hold to certain values, so you’re an eco-friendly office that doesn’t use paper for anything.
The point of your USP is to sell your services. If it’s fun and easily remembered but doesn’t bring in business, it’s not working.
In a nutshell, your USP must promise one big benefit. It must target a certain audience. It must be unique and clear. It must promise the solution to people’s problems. And it must be a big part of your marketing strategy.
So use your USP on everything—your website, brochures, business cards, social media, and advertising. You may tweak it for each format to make it shorter or longer or to highlight a different benefit. But people will see your consistency. They’ll recognize your brand and remember who you serve, what you do, and how you can make their lives better.
After developing your USP, share it in the comments below! Need help? Contact ASJ Partners – we’ll help you create a marketing strategy, so you sell more and grow more. We offer comprehensive marketing campaigns for the staffing industry.
