John,

Sounds like you've got quite a business.

From this last post you suggest your existing clients hire you because you are the cheapest.

You also suggest your ideal client is willing to pay to eliminate the general contractor hassles.

Which one to go after is obviously a no-brainer, but I'm wondering if you have surveyed the opinions of these folks.

What you or I might think your prospect wants doesn't amount to a hill of beans.

And I don't think this has to be that complicated or time-consuming.

If I were you I'd call, meet, or mail a brief survey to a short list of your ideal prospects to identify the most important problems they face, and want you to solve.

Take the results and write a short paragraph restating the benefits of eliminating the hassles they have expressed.

Then wittle it down into one or two short sentences.

This should give you some really good USP ideas.

When you get to this point, see how well this sets you apart from your competition by completing this question:

What most businesses in this industry do is _________,

But, what Altex does is _________.

One other thing you might then try is the "Did you know?" approach.

Imagine yourself taping somebody on the shoulder to tell them about Altex by stating your USP to them in a "Did you know..." format.

See what you got and continue to test to see what works best.

Good luck!

Rod