You've just gotten comfortable at the dinner table.  The food looks great and it's one of the rare occassions where the whole family is there.  The conversation is interrupted by a ringing phone and on the other end of the line, "Good evening, my name is_______ and I hope I haven't interrupted anything but I have some fantastic news about your eligibility for  more insurance coverage..." 

How excited are you about calls like that?

Yet, if you have a family, a home, a car, etc., you want and need the protection insurance offers.  What you don't want is an "insurance sales person" bothering you.  But what if you met someone with a very compelling Unique Selling Proposition (USP)?  They could say something like this.  "Do you know how family and other obligations can be devastating if something happened to you?  What I do is, put together specific strategies so that your family never feels that pressure in the event of a loss."

There are only 3 possible responses.  1.  So what?  2.  I know someone who could use that.  3.  We need to talk.  That means two out of three people give a positive response to your proposition.  Imagine if 66% of people you talked to reacted positively to your proposal.  That's the benefit of having your own USP.  Do you have one?

If you do, is it working?  If not, do you know how to get one?  Or even get a new and more powerful one.  It's simple...

...But it's not easy.

The two phrases you need are the question adn the statement.  You ask about a potential problem adn then offer the ultimate solution.  "Do you know how.." Here you add the potential problem.  Immediately add the solution you offer.  "What I do is..."  For example:

"Do you know how so many people feel uncomfortable when buying a new car?"  What I do is find out exactly how they want the transaction to go and work with them to get them into the vehicle of their dreams."

You can come up with a ton of variations to fit into the two phrases but that's only the beginning.  This is what makes the process so difficult and so effective if you get it right.  That's because after you say it, you must deliver.  You must make every customer feel that you exceeded their expectations of your USP.  Do this and you'll see the rest of the process go incredibly well.

Like most of the essential basics of successful selling, I didn't invent the USP.  But, I do embrace it and take it incredibly seriously.  Your ability to make the USP entirely your own is the key to it being effective.  Believe in it and it will always be genuine when you say it to a potential customer.  It's a great way to prospect total strangers when you're away from the dealership.

John Fuhrman is the Senior National Trainer for Carolina Automotive Resource Services, a unit of The Dealer Resource Group.  His ten books have reached 1.5 million readers and he has trained sales professionals around the world.  Check out our new ADVERTISING ONLY package for small dealers or dealers who want to train their own people.  When your dealership needs amazing results hiring new people, visit http://www.thedealerresourcegroup.webs.com.   ATTENTION DEALERS:  VISIT OUR WEB SITE AND REGISTER TO KEEP UP ON MONTHLY TRAINING SAVING SPECIALS.  Our trainers are ready to show you our "WOW!" factor.  (c)2011 by John Fuhrman - Permission to reprint this post in its entirety, including contact information, is hereby granted.