It sounds obvious: you must have an advantage over your competition, otherwise you just wouldn't bother. But spell it out: make sure your special pluses appear in all marketing materials, including web sites, business cards and email signatures. And make sure everyone on your staff understands the USP and uses it themselves when speaking to the punters.
   And what is a Unique Selling Proposition? The term was created in the 1950s and originally referred to advertising - specifically, to the principle that the advertising proposition should promise a specified benefit which isn't available from competitors. The proposition should be so compelling that it drives individuals to act.
   From those beginnings, the USP idea has been extended usefully into other areas of business. It's still a core marketing concept, though.
   So how do you find your own USP? First you need answers to three questions:
   What benefit is unique to what you offer? Remember, a benefit is a solution to a problem. If you can't find a completely unique benefit, go for one that your competitors may share but don't promote.
   Who is the target market that is most interested in this benefit? Your main target market will be whoever you want to buy your product or service, but it should probably be a broader group - people who might influence a sale aren't necessarily those who write the cheque or open the wallet.
   What USP is already used by major competitors for this target market? When creating your own USP, consider your competitors' weaknesses and your strengths.
Here are the typical elements around which a USP can be created:

• quality
• service / customer care
• style
• price / value
• selection / range
• location

The three-letter follow-up

It's patently obvious that marketing isn't an end in itself - your time, money and effort is wasted if you don't follow-up on your leads. Doing that can represent a lot of extra hassle, though, especially if your first follow-up doesn't produce the sale.
   It's worth persevering, and you can generally increase sales if you use a system of multiple follow-ups. The best option is to use up to three letters or emails - any more than three and you'll be boring the pants off the recipient: any less and you might miss out.

• Contact 1 is short, a brief presentation of your offer with a reminder that you're responding to their contact rather than cold-calling. You might include an incentive, like a time-limited offer for quick response. This letter should be designed to get attention generally, but more specifically to grab those prospects who can make up their minds quickly to buy.
• Contact 2 should arrive 48 hours later. It's longer and more detailed, because many purchasers need all the facts before they will commit. So major on your USPs, list features and relate them to benefits. Mention the incentive but don't stress it too heavily: after all, these people passed on the opportunity the first time around, so they probably aren't influenced so heavily by the offer.
• Contact 3 should arrive about a week later. The opening line acknowledges that the recipient is probably busy and hasn't hadn't time to consider your previous message. Then repeat the proposition, but find a new form of words and ideally a new angle - you don't want them to feel too much of a sense of déjà vu.

Still no sale? Well, at least you have an entry for your prospect database. Add them to the circulation for your monthly newsletter and the invite list to your next exhibition appearance. Sooner or later you'll catch 'em …

There's an art to writing effective direct mail material, especially DM letters. Here are some of the tricks of the trade:

• Time-limited offers, particularly those that give a specific date, are almost invariably more successful than those with no time limit.
• Free gift offers consistently outpull discount offers, particularly where the gift appeals to self-interest.
• Sweepstakes and prize draws are particularly effective, and not just for consumer sales.
• Free printed information makes a good and inexpensive offer for business mailings - but presentation is all: the document must be closely related to your business and to the recipient's, and above all it must be perceived as valuable.
• Offer a complete and easy-to-claim guarantee. It's a confidence booster. The extra sales will almost invariably exceed any refunds you have to give.