I've been hearing for years that a successful business needs to have a USP (unique sales point). The problem is that most businesses find difficulty in identifying what their USP is. And even if they have a USP, eventually they find their competitors doing the same thing.

So instead of losing sleep wondering what your USP could be, far better to think about what your ESP (emotional sales point), could be.

Your ESP is about how your customers feel when they deal with you. How they feel when they use your product or service.

A USP could be - "We have a 24 hour delivery service" The ESP would be - "You'll be enjoying our product the day after ordering it"

A USP - "Our prices are very competitive" The ESP - "You'll feel you've received value for money if you buy this"

As all good sales people know, we don't sell a feature (USP) we sell a benefit (ESP).

Customers don't buy Nike clothing because there made from quality materials, they buy Nike because they want to feel like Tiger Woods on the Golf course or Andre Aggasi on the tennis court.

They don't buy Microsoft products because of all the research they've done, they buy them because they feel good about them.

Start to think what your ESP is. What does your product or service do that makes your customers feel secure, comfortable, acceptable to others, admired, stylish, wealthy, important, happy, relaxed or sexy.

For those of you selling engineering or technical products and think this isn't for you - think again.

Some years ago I worked as a Sales Engineer for Loctite industrial adhesives. On several occasions I proved to engineers through numerous tests, how my product could save time and money over the assembly methods they were using.

Many engineers agreed with all the test results however they often rejected the product on the basis that it didn't FEEL right for them. I realised then that I needed an ESP to overcome this resistance.

So there you have it - always remember that a customer will make an emotional decision before a logical one, whatever they're buying - so what's your ESP?