Many companies come to us with no sense of what makes them unique. They feel as if theyāre exactly the same as their competitors. Their goal is to run more frequent lead generation campaigns, or hire salespeople who will dial faster and shout louder than their competition. All this so theyāll reach prospects first because they donāt believe they have any unique differentiation to win sales on their well-earned merit.
This isnāt a frustration limited to just one industry either.
Itās something nearly all companies grapple with ā insurance agents, IT managed service providers, software providers, and even landscapers ā donāt know what makes them different. In their minds, they are exactly the same as their competitors.
They want to be unique but arenāt sure if they really are unique.
The truth is, you are different from your competitors, whether you know it or not.
Itās your differentiation that helps you win the sale. Itās not the numberĀ of lead generation campaigns you send, videos you make, events you run, or calls you make. Now, donāt get me wrong, those absolutely are important. They may be the activities that get you in the door so you can participate in the sales process.
But lead generation activities alone wonāt win business. Rather, itās your differentiation that causes you to come out on top and win the sale.
If you donāt have noticeable differentiation from your competitors, itās difficult to accentuate differentiatorsĀ in your communication. The deciding factor will be price ā which you donāt want. Relying on price differentiation is too risky for small businesses, and itās difficult to maintain.
Think Amazon and Walmart.
They each strive to be the lowest-cost provider and are continually focused on price. Even as theyāve literally become amazons in their industry, theyāre still competing primarily on price and distribution. Ā For smaller businesses, itās all too easy for your competitors to find a cheaper supplier or lower their overhead.
Suddenly, youāve lost your differentiation.
Instead, you want to identify what you do well that makes you unique from your competitors. You donāt have to be unique in every market, only in your target markets and in how you meet your prospectsā needs.
For example, you might have a streamlined client onboarding process that allows your new clients to implement your services with minimal impact on their staff. Or, your knowledge of their industry may allow you to extend your core services to support other areas of their business, such as managing all their technology providers from internet to software application provider.
Hereās another example: our top clients have us serve as their Chief Marketing Officer (CMO), directing their lead generation strategy and implementation. Whatās our differentiation in the CMO role that our clients are after? Itās that we understand sales and the sales process. Every recommendation we make is from the perspective of how it will support their sales team and overall revenue growth through lead generation and marketing.
What makes a trait a differentiator isnāt just that itās unique to you.
Itās that your clients value that differentiator because it helps them do business ā or run their personal lives āĀ more effectively. Your differentiators help meet a need they want. Buyers are no longer looking solely at a checklist of decision criteria ā theyāre also looking at how you are a better fit for their company than your competitors.
Once youāve identified your unique differentiators Ā (Hint: this quick video gives you tips to do that), you can influence the sales process and your prospectsā evaluation criteria. Whatever the reason prospects invite you into the sales process, you can use your differentiators to help them expand their thinking about whatās really important to them.
Price will no longer be the only determinant as prospects consider your proposal in comparison to your competitors. Your prospects will have other evaluation criteria to consider and a broader choice. And you gave them that opportunity because you knew your differentiators.
If you donāt know what your differentiators are, then itās difficult to accentuate them in your communication.
