A unique value proposition (UVP), sometimes called a unique selling proposition, should be at the core of every professional's and every organization's marketing strategy. Your UVP will steer you toward your target market and let your customers know what specific benefits they will receive because of your unique strengths.

I decided to write about UVPs this month as I watched the political pundits dissect the recent election results. Clearly, President-elect Obama did a better job creating his UVP than John McCain did.

Obama was able to convey a message that told us the product he was "selling" was change and hope. He told us he is a Washington outsider who can deliver.

John McCain, on the other hand, told us he was a maverick, which probably wasn't the best way to communicate his essence. But, more important, he failed to convey to the voting public the answer to the question, "What's in it for me?" Apparently, McCain didn't know that the target customer (in this case, the voter) cared a lot less about McCain and his experience and was more interested in what was in it for him or her.

Your UVP tells potential customers why they want to buy from you, as opposed to the competition. And since there will always be someone who can do it more cheaply than you, a well-thought-out UVP should go beyond the price you're charging; it should put your business in a class by itself.

The following is the UVP for my business, A Friendly Divorce: 

At A Friendly Divorce, we provide divorce mediation and document preparation to divorcing couples who do not want the acrimony and ruin of a traditional divorce. We help our clients conserve their resources, protect their children and save their sanity. We accomplish these goals using our unique mediation model, which integrates male/female balance, and knowledge of the legal, psychological and financial aspects of divorce.

Cliff Moitt,  a personal trainer in Boca Raton, Fla., has a great UVP. He says:

The 27fit program takes anyone, from an average hockey mom to an elite athlete, through a 27-minute workout for 27 days. Using a group setting, we build camaraderie, commitment and accountability. Our clients achieve total body transformation and on average they lose 10 to 27 pounds. Eighteen years in the fitness industry has taught me that quality, not quantity, brings optimal results. So at 27Fit we bring you less time and more results.

Moitt is clear about the value he provides; thus, customers clearly understand his business's value. But I have met trainers who just don't get it. Instead of a dynamic UVP, they give blah introductions along the lines of: "My name is Joe Smith and I want to be your personal trainer. I am certified by the NSCA and I have been a personal trainer for 18 years. I love to help people get fit, so if you or someone your know wants to work out or do group exercise, remember me, Joe, the trainer with the biggest muscles."

You don't want to be Joe the trainer, so use these seven steps to identify and create your UVP:

1. Gather your team, including advisors, employees, mentors, friends, business coach and any others who have a stake in your success and an understanding of who you are and what you do.

2. Consider the statistical demographics of your best clients and the stereotypes and caricatures they fit. Then put yourself in the shoes of your prospective customers.

3. Discuss what these prospective customers might say about competing products, services and companies in your industry.

4. Make two long lists, one that describes the customer and one that describes the competition.

5. Focus on what it is that makes you, your product or service, and your company different. Then make a third list that describes these differences.

6. Use the information on these three lists to create your UVP. But first, ask your team these questions:

1. Why should the customer buy from you and not your competitors?
    
2. What do you offer that competitors can't or won't offer? (This might be a guarantee, special service, expertise or a better price.)
    
3. What negatives can you help the customer discharge? What pain can you take away?
    
4. How will the customer personally profit from doing business with you? What will he or she gain?

7. Boil all of this down to a single, benefit-oriented, brief statement.

Given the frenetic pace of modern life, many of us are unwilling or unable to invest time in the traditional rapport-building sales approach and its related accolades about features and products. We want the message in sound bites. So make your UVP a sound bite.

Finally, remember to use your UVP whenever you are presenting yourself or your business; in your introduction or elevator pitch and on your marketing materials, proposals, e-mails, business cards, correspondence and advertising.