Page 143 - Paulisms: Gold Nuggets for Small Business

my business, and it was a great exercise to define our purpose – what we were about. It was a great investment. It’s important for a company to know what business it is in, its purpose and its importance. Blair came up with a great tag line – ‘Better Spaces, Better Lives’ – that fitted perfectly, as well as accurately defined our purpose.
5.5.3 Unique Selling Proposition (USP)
I took my team to Sydney in late 2000 to see Solatube Australia and also to walk the Sydney Harbour Bridge. We had a brainstorming exercise in one of the hotel rooms and used a shiny door as a white board.
I asked the team, ‘What is our USP?’ They all said ‘Solatube’. I replied that, no, our USP is selling and installing home improvement products. Yes, we had created a generic brand, Solatube, but it was the system and the way we operated that was our strength – our USP! Solatube would never have been strong if it had not been for our systems and the installation network I set up nationwide. We controlled the product sales channels and margins. We went direct and controlled all aspects of the sales process. We had the model and we could slip other installed products into that model. I said that we could have the best recognised brands in the world, but it’s not about the brand, it’s the way a company operates that makes it unique.
To me, culture, purpose, mission and vision statements and USPs are all part of one focus and direction of the company. It should be woven into the fabric of the company. Customers know from their experiences with the company they are dealing with and its reputation that it is a company that never loses sight of exceptional customer service and exceeding people’s expectations. It’s providing an experience and customer happiness where there was no need to explain a higher purpose. It oozes