“We’ve only scratched the surface of what’s available to you and how to implement these principles.”
… this was how we left off in our last email…
So let’s dive deeper and give you more advanced marketing insight for growing your business. Shall we?
Including some of my proven, bread-and-butter strategies…
So pay close attention.
You see, a few of these will challenge conventional thinking…
That’s okay.
Others will help you attract, win and re-engage customers towards dominating your market.
It’s part of the “work smarter not harder” equation…
Understand, one of your greatest competitive advantages results from:
Doing the things your competitors won’t do so…
You can have the business they can’t have…
And that starts by identifying what we call “holes in the boat…”
…by answering a few questions, such as:
- Do you lose business to cheaper competitors?
- Are you afraid to raise your prices?
- Are your customers confused and unsure about what makes you BETTER than your competition?
Now if you answered “yes” to any of these…
It’s possible you may have commoditized yourself….
A very dangerous position to be in.
And you wouldn’t be alone.
Peter Georgescu of Young and Rubicam said it best:
“Commoditization — what I see as the cancer of 21st commerce — has fueled ferocious price competition, leading to lower prices, margins and profits for businesses. With price as the only real differentiator, producers are left with a challenge: they must find a way to stand out in the crowd.”
You see, being commoditized means you have no real way of standing out in the crowd except for price.
And if you look back in history, companies that tried to compete on price alone failed.
Miserably.
Before Wal-Mart, there was KMart… before Kmart, there was Ames… before Ames, there was Woolworth… and before Woolworth there was an ever-changing cast of regional discount retailers trying to be the new low-cost leader.
Look, whether you’re B2B or B2B, continue competing on price and you will find yourself on the outside looking in…
So how do you fix this?
It sits within your Unique Advantage Point…
Surprisingly, many entrepreneurs don’t know EXACTLY what makes them stand out.
They rattle off answers like:
- Better product
- Lower prices
- Higher quality service
- Better guarantee
And while these are all important attributes (except for low prices), they don’t differentiate and define the superior value of what’s offered.
In fact, those are common claims that hold about as much water as a politician’s promise for “change”.
General claims (like “best quality”) doesn’t articulate a Unique Advantage Point or position you as the obvious choice among your competitors.
You may be familiar with the concept of a Unique Selling Proposition (USP) — your product’s characteristic or component that differentiates it from others in the same market.
I prefer to talk about this characteristic as a Unique Advantage Point (UAP) — a way your business is not only different from competitors (unique) but also superior (advantage).
Marketing legend Jay Abraham says that until you can establish your unique advantage clearly to your prospects: “You have nothing special to offer anyone.”
I challenge you to think about a Unique Advantage Point for your business…
In fact, to help you craft your unique offering, answer these simple but powerful questions:
- What is special and unique about the outcome you provide for your customers/clients??
- How does that help provide your customer/clients with a greater advantage, benefit or value??
- What are doing doing to reduce (or totally eliminate) your client/customers risk??
The answers to this question are gold.
In fact, we’ll cover this in greater detail in the next email.
In your corner,
Charlie
P.S. If you need help answering your Unique Advantage Point, check out our Platinum Business Coaching Program (it’s guaranteed).