What does USP mean? USP or Unique Selling Point is about what makes what we do different. After all its a tough world out there with competition around every corner. I often hear people involved in charity, voluntary and community work saying “but USP doesn’t apply to me because I’m not selling anything!” Of course they’re selling, they’re selling themselves and what they do and let’s face it, in the charity, voluntary and community sectors, its tough!
Our starting point is the knowledge that people ‘buy’ from people and so the USP is two fold. It’s about the personal USP and that of the organisation. If you don’t get both right from the beginning, then you’re on an uphill climb before you start!
My own personal USP is being able to empathize with those I come across in my work with HEALS and the ability to understand their needs. Don’t get me wrong there are lots of competent professionals out there who do an excellent job but are qualifications alone enough. For me of course you need the professionals but you also need people on the ground too with real life experience, people who understand the issues and those with a genuine passion to help others, those who’s motivation is seeing others succeed and that’s me. So my USP is being able to motivate people, help take them on their personal journey and realize their potential and that there is light at the end of the tunnel.
One thing that drives me mad is when people are ‘pigeon holed’ into ‘boxes’ or the often ‘blanket’ policies we see. When will we recognize that not everyone is the same and even if two people are sharing and facing a similar issue, the impact of that issue will be different on each of them. Therefore, the help, encouragement and support for each will need to be different but no the ‘blanket’ approach kicks in and although it might help, I’m just not sure its enough.
So what is HEALS USP? The answer is simple, at HEALS we embrace diversity and we understand that ‘one size does not fit everyone’ so we use different ways to help, encourage and support those who need our help, in the community. We pride ourselves on doing our best to give everyone individualized support. We recognize that professional input is essential in helping us and those we work with and so we work in partnership because we believe that the principles and practices of shared commitment between partners benefits everyone.
So what does HEALS actually do? Examples of what we’ve done successfully is our HELPING HANDS Project are we’ve helped individuals and families with financial assistance, we’ve helped with getting targeted support and advice, improving IT skills, helped purchase books for study, plus lots more. Through our community magazine [also called Helping Hands] we’ve been able to directly and indirectly help people get advice, support, goods they need and we’ve had positive feedback from our partners too. We are looking to extend this project because we’ve already recognized that the changes being implemented by Government are going to mean that more ways to help, encourage and support are going to be needed.
Okay, I hear you say but what really makes HEALS unique? HEALS is not about doing something to somebody, neither is it about taking over and it certainly isn’t about throwing money at people. HEALS is about extending an arm, it’s about reaching out, listening, helping those in need decide on their priorities and it’s about walking with them for as long as they want. HEALS is also about being creative is important too because no two similar issues can be dealt with in the same way.
Essentially, HEALS is about helping, encouraging and supporting people to help themselves!
alisoncrossjones 