Gone are the days when manufacturers and business owners could neglect their product’s branding and still get a good profit. Back then, buyers really didn’t have many options so everyone bought practically the same product. Today, whatever your product or service is, there is a long list of existing brands to out sell. So the next question is “How do you stand out and get people to notice you?” This is where your business communication skills come in!

The process of boosting sales is a long trial and error process. I hear you say, “Yes, I know it’s important to test my product”. The trial and error process doesn’t end there. You also have to test the Unique Selling Proposition (USP) of your product or service.

What is a USP? This is what separates your offer from other existing brands. What makes your product better? Why should people buy it instead of brand X? I know you’re tempted to say, “It’s cheaper” or “It works faster than brand X”, but those selling points aren’t strong and “unique” enough.

Think about it, if you advertise your product as the “fastest working skin-lightening cream,” will you be really the first one to make such a claim?

NO!

Creating a Unique Selling Proposition takes time, and I’m sure it will put your business communication skills to the test. So here are few tips:

• Study your competition. Study what they offer, how they operate, how they do business with clients. Try to find weaknesses that you can capitalize on, or good practices you can duplicate. You need to do your homework diligently; visit their location, subscribe to their newsletters, and make a purchase. 
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• Knowing what the competition is like will give you a better position to come up with an attention grabbing USP. Studying the way your competition works will also improve your business communication skills.
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• After researching about other products and services, your next task is to consolidate all these information and put them into good use. Compare your website against theirs and see where you can improve, analyze how their customer service is done, and see if you can provide better service. How fast is their service? 
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• How knowledgeable are their sales people? How good are their business communication skills? Does their product have a flaw? Use the information you have gathered to improve the way you offer products and services.
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• Strategize quietly. Keep a low profile as you work on building your team, product, and services. The worst thing that can happen is for your competitors to start strategizing against you even before you’ve put things into place. So try to keep it low, and just gain loyal followers; as you go full blast, you will have gained loyal clients who will stick with you no matter what.
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• Pre-empt competition by creating a never-before heard selling point. Have you noticed how commercials for skin care products have never-before heard yet scientific-sounding benefits? 
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• Take Dove soap, their USP is the ¼ moisturizing cream in their products, while Olay Total effects claims 7 anti-aging benefits in one bottle.
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Notice how these successful brands have created a niche for their own, rather than going for the typical cliché benefits like “prevent acne”, “moisturizes skin”, “minimize pores”. Yes, the implied benefits of Dove and Olay are practically a re-phrased version of the cliché benefits stated above, but it’s effective because there’s no other brand offering such a thing! No other soap can claim to have ¼ moisturizing cream because Dove already staked a claim on it! 

If you could present your product in such a way that it fills  a specific need or solves a specific problem never before explored by other competitors, then I’m sure you won’t have trouble finding paying customers.

The way you communicate your brand to your market goes a long way. You need to make sure they understand what you can offer and give them good reasons to choose you over the others. 

Your business communication skills will affect the success of your brand and how your target market responds to you.