Home topics news News News Strengthen your unique selling proposition with an award Kristy Sheppard January 10, 2012 Any established business owner understands that having – and promoting – a positive unique selling proposition sets them apart from their competition and helps stop potential customers from looking any further when they’re shopping around. Goodness knows these days most of us compare products and suppliers fairly extensively before making a purchase decision. You will do well in today’s increasingly competitive sales environment to take up any and all opportunities to differentiate your business. Thought about adding awards to your key selling point/s? Consider the purchase decisions you make and why you choose one offering over another. Is an award-winning business more likely to get your dollars when you’re comparing it to another that offers the same or similar products/services? Community business awards will add weight to your cause with local customers while state and national awards will not only help with those closer to home but will strengthen your business appeal to customers further afield. You may be surprised how many awards programs out there. Mortgage brokers, for example, have at least four respected industry awards programs to choose from, not to mention their respective community awards and a wide range of national awards focusing on business excellence in any field. One well-recognised national awards program for Australian SMEs is the Telstra Australian Business Awards (the entries for this are actually open now). Another, specifically for small businesses that are part