Position Your Product For Success: The Difference That Makes A Difference
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by: MattCBA
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Does your company have that special something that makes you stand out against the crowd of your competitors? Or, rather, are you sinking in the sea of sameness with a weak message and no value proposition to set yourself apart? Differentiation is everything in today’s competitive marketplace. Think about it… without differentiation, Disney wouldn’t be swimming in success from positioning its company as the “Happiest Place on Earth” in the eyes of families across the United States. The company’s creation of whimsical, imagination-invoking environments and rides, combined with its superior customer service promise and attention to the guest experience, has brought its multiple theme parks many years of tourist traffic.
You too can have great business success, but first, you must define your Difference that Makes a Difference and change what you are doing to shift your results.
Consider for a moment the unique selling proposition of your company – emphasis here is on the word, “unique.” Does your business have a special quality, stand-up process, better price, superior talent, or premium product that makes choosing your company stand apart from others the most logical and beneficial decision? Your Difference that Makes a Difference during these challenging economic times might be your competitive pricing, efficient scheduling process, skilled sales staff, or superior product script and interaction with clients. But quantitative accomplishment isn’t everything… qualitative success matters too!
High levels of volume and productivity do not necessarily win the client without your critical qualitative personal contribution to your company. For example, it’s excellent if your product is competitively priced, and your sales staff training and performance is efficient. However, if your competitor matches you in these quantitative areas, but they might also promote their eco-friendly production process, guess who is likely to win the business? Chipotle might be similarly priced to Moe’s Southwest Grill, for example, and they may even have an equally tasty burrito lunch product. But Chipotle promotes its predominant use of open-range, antibiotic free chicken and pork to today’s growing pro-organic and anti-animal-abuse population. Way to appeal to the consumer’s senses – both taste buds as well as animal rights ethics!
Without qualitative differentiation (that makes a difference), Geico Auto Insurance would not be considered “so easy that a caveman could do it.” The play on neanderthal intelligence levels, and the cavemen’s protest of their IQ categorization transforms Geico’s otherwise mundane insurance product into a humorous and memorable message or differentiation: clients can enjoy an insurance product and service that will not make their head spin.
Each of us – personally and professionally – leaves a small footprint in our environment with the life that we live. Think about the carbon footprint on the world that a fruit or vegetable leaves behind as it moves from the farm fields through the harvesting process to your dining room table. The impact that its life leaves on our Earth is small but measurable. What kind of footprint are you leaving behind in your business practices? One that makes a difference, or one that doesn’t? One that consumers find meaningful and cannot resist buying in to, or one that they will easily pass up?
In addition to getting a grasp on your company’s quantitative and qualitative values that set you apart from your competition, I challenge you to brainstorm even further and consider your individual points of differentiation! What footprint are you leaving behind in your personal and professional life? How are you memorable? What quantitative difference do you bring to selling, negotiating, instructing and communicating? What, then, makes you qualitatively valuable? Is it your ability to collaborate well with others, your skills in relationship building, your interest in making others comfortable or maybe your passion for impacting others positively?
We encourage you to shoot for a high quantitative advantage over your competition, but true results will come to those who differentiate themselves on the qualitative values as well. Leverage your company’sDifference That Makes a Difference by changing what you’re doing – quantitatively and qualitatively – to change your results.
In today’s highly competitive economic conditions, we know that you can succeed. And the Linklater Co. can help you do that.
Three to four years ago, when business was booming, sales were easy to capture with the best priced product, better systems and smoother processes. Now, your customers have the advantage of choice and discrimination in their purchasing experiences. You need take the right steps for getting your message heard among the sea of sameness in your industry and among your competitors. The Linklater Company offers sales training, personal coaching and business consulting that can help you and your sales staff to differentiate your business and drive better success, leaving memorable footprints anywhere you go. Give us a call today to get started with your business and sales training!
About the Author
About Matthew Linklater: Author, Speaker and Success Coach, Matthew Linklater, offers powerful business consulting and high-impact personal coaching. He has trained business leaders to increase in the critical areas of sales coaching, building instant rapport with others, 3D Communication for negotiation and conflict resolution, motivation of team members, goal achievement, product scripting and leadership. His personal coaching methods incorporate powerful NLP techniques, Time Line Therapy®, the Live Your Vision experience and the Ericksonian Hypnosis method. Matthew Linklater is the author of Quick Witted: Saying the Right Thing to Win Big, and can be found speaking, training or writing the final pages of his upcoming book, Basic Training: Sales Boot Camp. To learn more about Matthew Linklater, please visit www.thelinklater.com.
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