Your Unique Selling Point

Your Unique Selling Point
By Dwayne Reno

In times of increased competition knowing what makes your restaurant, bar or café different is a great strategic advantage. This is called your unique selling point (USP) and obviously making this clear to potential customers will help your brand generate positive word of mouth online and in your communities.

However many foodservice operators have USP’ such as “the best pizza in town.” A USP such as this fails to show customers what your restaurant, bar or café has to offer as this statement can be very hard for some foodservice operators to prove. This week I would like to discuss unique selling points and why you need one.

Examples of a Unique Selling Point:

• “Excellent food quality and great service.”  - MacDonald's, here
• “Helping foodservice operators remain competitive and communicate better.” – Building Block Associates

What makes a good USP?
When creating your USP it is important to make it unique to your restaurant, bar or café, also short and to the point. Try not to make it too board of a statement such as “the best pizza in town,” since this statement does nothing to highlight a unique selling point for your brand. A good starting point is to ask yourself what do I want my customers to remember about my brand?

Also a good USP should flow with your brand and help to differentiate you from your competitors over time. If you currently have a USP, look at it and ask yourself:

• Does my USP live up to my brand promise?
• Does my USP resonate with my customer base?
  

Why do I need a USP?
The foodservice industry is very competitive and more competitors are joining the fray each month. Also your customers are much more educated about the food they eat and how it will affect them long term. Furthermore this new type of customers has unlimited access to online information; more than any other customer before.

Online search engines and customer review sites have empowered this new customer with access to information about you and your competitor’s. This online information is used by customers to help them make buying decisions. Having a good USP will help to separate your restaurant, bar or café from your competitors.

At BBA we pride ourselves on doing more for the foodservice operators we work with. If you would like to know more about how our services can help your business remain competitive and communicate better contact us, here.

Until next time your customers want to know why they should spend money at your restaurant, bar or cafe. So give them the goods!

Need inspiration? Checkout some of our services.