Why should I buy from you? It's the question every potential customer asks and the one business owners most often have trouble answering well.

Indeed, there seems to be an unwritten rule that most businesses say pretty much the same things about themselves as their competitors. Just take a look at any category in the Yellow Pages. They are mostly name rank and serial number advertisements. They start with a big company name, list mostly the same benefits and finish with a big telephone number.

But if you don't stand out from the pack, you leave it to the clients to figure out who to choose -- and they make their decisions on generic factors like price, your location, your personality, the colour of your advertisements and so on, instead of on your strengths as a business.

Because you exist is not a very compelling reason to give you business. So when you're selling something that many other people sell, you need a unique identity -- an appealing but distinct idea that distinguishes you from your competitors and becomes the foundation for all your marketing.

For example: "Fresh hot pizza, delivered to your door in under 30 minutes or it's free."

When Domino's Pizza came to market with this identity, it virtually dominated the pizza market. The company's proposition was simple and its uniqueness was clear. It didn't offer the best ingredients or the most exotic recipes, it simply offered what no one else was offering. That's what you have to look for.

Find the right identity for your business by analyzing both your market and your capabilities as a firm. It's also a process of elimination based on your firm's abilities to deliver on the inherent promise.

The first step is to think about the hopes, dreams, desires and emotions of your prospective customers. List them and decide which ones can best be satisfied with your product or service.

The next step is to score each of these hopes, dreams and desires against the following three criteria:

• How strong is the desire to have the need filled?
• How long will this demand last?
• The number of people who share the desire.

Obviously, good market research helps. But business owners who spend a lot of time in the marketplace often have sufficient knowledge and instincts about what's important to customers. Often that will suffice, especially when you can't afford research.

The next step is to examine your product benefits and the needs you satisfy better than anyone else -- or could satisfy better than anyone else if you focused attention on them. There are many needs, but some common ones include:

• Service that goes beyond the basics.
• The biggest selection of products or services.
• The lowest prices or biggest discounts.
• The most accessible locations or the greatest convenience by having the most locations.
• The best advice, assistance and help.
• The longest most comprehensive guarantees.
• Speed of service.
• Product quality.
• Rapid turn around.

There is no limit, you can even combine them, but by making a list, you see it's not that difficult to begin to give your options some shape and dimension.

Once you've listed your options, it's important to evaluate how well you are able to fulfill the promise and what it would take to elevate it to competitive advantage level.

The next step is to begin to articulate your uniqueness. Your first attempt might take one or two paragraphs, but then ruthlessly cut out anything that sounds like a generality. Make every word count. The crisper and cleared you are the better. Everything needs to have dimensions.

Don't say: "We supply computer products and services." Instead say: "We help owners of growing professional services businesses generate a 200 per cent to 300 per cent ROI on their technology investments."

You'll know when you're done, because you will have created a statement that will immediately resonate with your customers.

This is an important lesson for all businesses: You can't serve everybody equally well, so be very specific about your market niche. And the smaller the niche, the bigger the opportunity to dominate that niche.

Another important lesson is, no firm can be good at everything, so pick a key attribute that you will compete on. Don't neglect performance in the other areas, but definitely focus on being competitive in one dominant area.

Your unique identity should appear in every aspect of your marketing, in the headlines and copy of your direct mail and advertising; in your brochures; in the pitches your salespeople make; in your presentations, and on your website. If you are fortunate enough to be interviewed by the media, make sure it is woven into what you tell them.

The criteria for a good unique identity statement are:

• It must differentiate you from your competition.
• It must be meaningful to your customers and prospects because it appeals to an important desire.
• It must address a receptive natural audience.
• You must be able to articulate it in 30 seconds or less.
• It must be true.

If you don't have a unique identity that you can use in all your marketing, set aside some time to work on it and commit to having one as soon as possible. It will pay handsome dividends that will show up quickly in your sales figures.

Michael Hepworth is a Toronto business owner and marketing mentor who helps small businesses grow their sales.