We present a template for analyzing your company when creating a USP and providing information about it to customers. Answering these questions will help you better understand the market and target audience when launching advertising campaigns…
Company Overview
- What is the exact name of your company? It should be written consistently everywhere. Pay attention to capitalization.
- Why is the company named that way? This could be an interesting story for the “About Us” section.
- Provide several formulations of your business activities.
- What websites does the company have, and what are their current metrics?
- Is Yandex Metrica and Google Analytics installed? Please provide access.
- What promotional materials does the company have? Brochures, etc. It’s best to collect their source files in one folder.
- How did the idea come about? What led you to this business?
- Tell the story of the company’s development step by step. What problems did you solve? What did you improve year after year? How did the numbers grow or fall?
Present the Company in Numbers (for the “Numbers” section):
(Year/month/start of existence):
- a) Turnover and profit
- b) Number of items in the assortment
- c) Number of units sold
- d) Number of employees (full-time, contractors)
- e) Number of clients
- f) Number of offices, franchises
- g) Number of awards
- h) Number of website visitors, blog views, subscribers on Telegram, VKontakte, and all social networks
- i) Scale figures (kilometers of wires, tons of raw materials, millions of man-hours, thousands of miles of flights, hundreds of sketches, terabytes of source code)
- j) Time figures (installation and assembly time, production time, warranty periods, response time to requests, how long it takes for a specialist to arrive for measurements, estimate calculation period, delivery time of goods)
- k) Figures that were not included in the list above.
Product
- What do you sell?
- Why and in what situations do people buy it?
- What problem in life or business does your product solve?
- Compare your product or service with analogues. Honestly indicate the advantages and disadvantages. Honestly, what are you better at?
- Why do customers buy your product and not from competitors?
- What is the principle of operation of the product?
- Tell us how the product is designed. What parts does it consist of?
- For services: describe the service by stages or logical elements.
- What does the packaging and additional materials that come with the main product or service look like? (instructions, brochures, spare parts, gifts, reports, etc.) Perhaps it should be developed – will it increase sales?
- What happens after a person buys? How does your product look in use?
- How does your company interact with customers after use? How do you support the client? (We recommend coming up with a gift for video reviews and feedback)
For Products: Tell us everything you know about each stage of the life cycle, namely:
- a) What raw materials and materials is the product made from?
- b) Where, by whom, and how is it manufactured?
- c) How is the product transported?
- d) How is the product stored in the warehouse?
- e) What can you say about the display on shelves, in the sales area, or on the website?
- f) How is the product operated and used by the client? Are there any positive or negative aspects at this stage of the cycle?
- g) Does the product need to be disposed of, and in general, what can be said about the stage after use?
Clients, Experience, and Portfolio
- Do you have any celebrity clients? (people and organizations)
- Tell us about your most significant projects and achievements:
- a) Describe your most expensive project.
- b) Describe your largest project.
- c) Describe your most famous project.
- d) Describe your most unusual project.
- e) Describe your most difficult project.
- Have you ever collaborated with government agencies? (this increases trust)
- What questions do customers ask you most often?
- The most common customer doubts, fears, stereotypes, and objections?
- Can you at least roughly estimate how much money you have saved for your clients or helped them earn additionally? (Selling through money is very easy)
Service and Conditions
- Describe the most successful promotions you have held.
- Do you give gifts to your customers, and in what cases?
- Tell us about the financial terms of work (prepayment, installments, deferral of first payments, commodity loans, discounts, goods for sale, buyout of illiquid assets, etc.).
- How do you collect feedback from customers?
- How do you control quality?
- How do you handle claims and complaints?
- Is there a concept of “easy entry” or a free first step for the client in your business? What could it be? What can be given for free?
People and Team (for the “Team” section)
- Who are the key people in the company? (names, positions)
- Give a brief summary of each person (biography, experience, achievements and victories, significant projects and clients)
What requirements do you have for employees (certificates, licenses, professional education, physical fitness, age, ethical principles)?
- How does your company develop and train its employees?
Internal Processes: Things to Photograph
- Do you have your own branded transport?
- Show and tell us about your office (store, restaurant, showroom)?
- Do you have branded clothing, corporate identity elements, logos in the office, a sign (such photos well close trust)?
- What equipment do you work on?
- Do you have your own software and programs?
- What traditions and rules exist in your company?
- Do you have your own security service?
- Can you show branded or souvenir products? (Even a pen or calendar with your logo in a general photo of your office will show that you are real)
- What else can be photographed or filmed to show that you exist or to reveal the advantages of your product?
Social Proof
- How many clients does your business have?
- Do you have any awards and regalia (prizes, ratings, certificates, medals, cups, letters of gratitude)?
- What publications exist about the company or from the company? (expert comments, interviews, jury in TV shows, author’s columns, articles).
- Are books written by key people in your company sold?
- Does the company have licenses, permits, and certificates confirming qualifications?
- Do you already have reviews? Are there reviews on third-party resources? (In auto-topics, reviews on drive2 work well)
- The share of regular customers and customers who came on recommendation in %
- Is the company a member of associations, guilds, and other professional guilds?
- Does the company own registered patents and copyrights for its own developments?
- Does your company organize significant professional events (exhibitions, conferences, schools, seminars, road shows, presentations, ceremonies)?
Details and Little Things
- Do you use unique materials?
- Do you own unique technologies and techniques?
- Reveal secrets, know-how, and nuances that no one else uses.
- Do unique, one-of-a-kind specialists work with you?
- Specify those details and little things in the product or service by which you can judge the impeccable quality. (Perfect for an “exploded diagram” or otherwise illustrate the quality)
Leader’s Personality (people buy you, not the product)
- Is yours a family business? (increases trust). What did your ancestors do?
- What is your education? Can you boast of your education?
- Do you have a degree, publications, and are you engaged in scientific and teaching activities?
- Career (experience in this field and other fields)?
- Who is your teacher (famous master)?
- Personal awards and achievements (including non-professional ones)
- Hobbies and interests
Other Businesses and Projects
- Do you participate in any way in the social and cultural life of society? (socially active businesses have more trust)
30 Theses (will allow you to create cool copywriting faster)
- Duplicate the facts and achievements of the company here.
- For example, 21 truck cranes in the fleet. Or 118 satisfied customers. Over 1900 lamps in the assortment.
