By Doug Fouts, Managing Director at Xapsis Integrated Marketing
What’s your company’s sustainable competitive
advantage? What’s the thing that really
sets you apart from your competition?
Don’t think, just answer as quickly as you can. I’ll wait.
So, what did you come up with?
I have sat with many C-level executives and business
owners that I have pointed that same question at, some who have companies that
have been in business for decades, but when put on the spot they many times
struggle to define precisely what makes them great. I usually add another caveat to the question
by telling them their answer cannot include such phrases as:
“Great customer service”
“We really take care of people better”
“Years of expertise”
“We have the most knowledgeable staff”
“We are a one stop shop, we do it all”
The problem with these types of responses is that not
only will every single one of your competitors make the exact same claim,
effectively nullifying anything sustainable or competitive from the claim, but also your target market segment will probably tune out these claims because they are meaningless to their needs.
It’s not that your target market segment wants poor
customer service, or the most inexperienced employees, it’s just that in a
world where EVERYONE says these things it’s become an expectation and NOT a differentiating
factor when it comes to company brands.
If you tell me you have great customer service, my next question is,
“Great! What does that mean to me and my
situation?” You have be able to put feet
on that, make it something tangible that I can readily see makes you the
obvious choice.
Seth Godin said recently in one of his blog articles:
“We say we want
local merchants to offer great service, deep selection and community values,
but we cross the street to the big box store to save $3.”
(Source: http://tinyurl.com/7geyduy)
He brings up a great point, that while great customer
service is expected to garner and keep business, the mere promise of it is no
longer enough to pull someone in, unless you can break down that even farther
down into REAL benefits that connect with your potential client’s buying
drivers.
Does great customer service mean that you can be reached
with any problems day or night, or that you’ll never be caught in an automated
phone message system because an actual person always picks up the phone? Does taking care of people better mean that
you deliver outside of your competitor’s standard delivery zone for client
convenience sake or that you do more upfront concrete research before recommending
3 different customized solutions so your client’s clients are happier with
their results?
Does being a one stop shop mean that the cost is
discounted if your client does every step of the process with your business,
instead of parceling different pieces out to different firms, saving them time
as well? Does having a more
knowledgeable staff mean that 99% of the time you can find a more cost
effective way to achieve the client’s goals?
Obviously I’m speaking in some generalities, but
hopefully you get the picture. This is
why it’s important to sometimes work with a marketing firm that can come in
from the outside with an objective look, and a series of important questions
that can really help you hone down your TANGIBLE, SUSTAINABLE and COMPETITIVE
advantages.
Of course once you have determined and agreed upon what
those are, then the hard work of crafting them into clear, concise and
compelling copy, positioning and image really begins. That’s an article, however, for another time…
