How do you stand out from the crowd?

Do you have any competitors or do you have the market entirely for yourself? Most businesses have to compete for attention. Most offerings are not going to very different one from another.

There are a limited number of things you can do to ensure you stand out from your competitors. The first thing is to figure out what are your Unique  Selling Points. Maybe you have the edge over your competitors with some factor that is unique. However, for most businesses these will come down to things like “excellent service” “well-established” “impressive client base” “finest quality”.  Make a list of yours.

Now pretend you have had to give up your business and out of pure necessity you are working for your nearest competition. What will be your “unique selling points” now? Will they be much different or will they also be “excellent service” “finest quality” and so on?

If this is the case then your potential client has seen your marketing and presentation before they even talk to you- from your competition.

So that means all you are left to trade on is price. That means margins. Profit. Future of your organisation. Remember, a 10% reduction in price could easily mean a 33% or more reduction in profit margin.

What else can we use instead of features, benefits, unique selling points and price to differentiate ourselves? It would appear we have run out of coins to trade in.

Not at all. If we differ in our tonality, our ability to identify the underlying reasons why our prospective client will do business, our ability to help our prospect make a decision, our marketing looks only at what they need and not what we are passionate about, and our disarming honesty, we have  differentiated ourselves far more than we could possibly do any other way.

Remember Sandler Rule # 35 “If your competition does it, stop doing it right away.”