What would be the impact on your business if you could consistently generate more sales and win more loyal customers?
- Would you be able to grow your team to serve your growing customer base?
- Would it afford you the opportunity to invest in technology, new systems or training your team?
- Would you be able to put some away for leaner times or give yourself a nice little dividend (or both)?
- Would it give you the means to be able to expand your service offering or pay for that consultant you’ve been wanting to work with?
- Would it, most importantly, mean you could sleep better at night and not worry about the business quite as much?
I may be jumping to conclusions here but I’d be willing to bet good money that your business has competition. In other words, there are other companies out there who do what you do, in similar ways to the way you do it and you all have the same target market.
Gone Fishing
In some circumstances, the only noticeable difference comes down to cost: some will be more expensive and others are likely to be cheaper than you. Essentially you and your competition are all fishing in the same pond, trying to catch the same fish by using fairly similar bait (marketing tactics).
Sometimes you get a bite but the fish gets away and someone else lands it. It’s frustrating so you cast your hook again. Even when you do catch one, whether it’s a minnow or a whopper, you’re soon back to casting your line out and looking for the next bite.
Several years ago I went to a networking event and there were three HR Consultants in attendance. When it came to their 60-seconds each one of them stood up and said, “The thing that makes me different from any other HR Consultant is that I sit down, understand my clients’ needs and then tailor the solutions to them.” In other words, the thing that stands me out from the crowd is that I do exactly the same as everyone else that does what I do!
Doing the same thing as everyone else
It’s easy to fall into the trap of thinking that what we do or how we do it is somehow different from what our competition does and sets us apart from everyone else. But, deep down, we know that’s not really the case so we spend a huge amount of time, money and energy into trying to articulate why someone should want to work with us:
- We define our features and benefits
- We talk about ROI and value
- We use the latest marketing techniques and methods
- We invest in a CRM system to keep the conversations going and track leads
- We use phrases like “above and beyond” and “tailored for you”, etc.
Now, please don’t get me wrong. All of those things are great tools and techniques to grow your audience and win new business but I strongly suspect that your competition are doing similar things too.
If that’s the case, how can you stand out from the crowd and be noticed in a way that results in you consistently generating more sales and winning more loyal customers?
The answer lies in understanding what your competitive advantage really is and then communicating it.
Don’t DO different, BE different
Your competitive advantage lies not in what you do, how you do it or the way you talk about. It lies in who you are. It lies in why you do things in the way you do them (your Core Purpose), what you stand for (your Core Values) and how you live them out (your Culture).
No one – and I really do mean no one – will be able to talk about those things in the way that you do because they’re personal (and therefore unique) to you. No one will have your ‘why’ because it’s yours. No one will define your core values in the way you do because they’re individual to you. And no one will be able to build and lead your business in the way you do because…. well… they’re them and you’re you.
The goal, as Simon Sinek so eloquently put it, is not just to sell to people who want what you have, the goal is to sell to people who believe what you believe… people don’t buy what you do, they buy why you do it.
So, how can you go about understanding what your true competitive advantage is?
If you’re trying to answer this on your own it’s really difficult. Trust me, I’ve tried. You’re too close to your business (just as I’m too close to mine) to be able to think objectively and creatively about it. You need outside support to help you gain the insight you need to figure it out.
What if I told you that the beginning of getting to grips with this is just six simple questions away and will take about an hour of your time?
That’s it. Six. Simple. Questions.
Sound too good to be true?
Well, why not put it to the test.
If you want to unearth your true competitive advantage so you can start to consistently generate more sales and win more loyal customers then why not click here for a complimentary 20 minute conversation to see how I can help.
