What makes you different?

We have a pretty intense 13-week consulting program that we offer to clients. The program is designed for clients who need to re-focus their efforts and start managing their business as an investment rather than a 70-hour per week job. The first thing we focus on is vision. Without a clear vision of where the business is going owners flounder without priorities.

After the vision is established we force business owners to explain their place in the market. In other words, we need to know what makes them different. Here's a series of questions you should be able to answer about your business.

• If someone had a business next door to mine that offered the same product why would people choose me?


• Do I look different from my competitors? How so?


• Am I priced differently?


• Is my post purchase experience different?


• Is my pre-purchase experience different?


• Do my customers physically look different than customers of my competitors?


• Do my customers have a different attitude?


• Would my customers buy from this business if I weren't here?


• Has my typical customer changed in the last one year, three years, five years?


• Where are my competitors?


• Does my store or office look different from theirs?


• Do I communicate with my customers differently?

This list is by no means exhaustive but it will get you started down the road of understanding what sets you apart from the competition. And make no mistake, unless you are different (in a good way) you won't be around for long. As you put together your list of differentiating factors keep the following in mind.

1. This list is for you. It should be indicative of the ACTIONS and things you are DOING to make yourself stand out. There's no value in lying to yourself about the way you WANT to be different. Be brutally honest.


2. In line with being honest, don't rely on yourself, your staff, or your current customers to give you an honest opinion. As individuals we are great at deluding ourselves. Employees often tell the boss what they think she wants to hear. Customers are reluctant to offend you. Find someone, your attorney, your CPA, a straight shooting family member or best of all, a friend who is also a business owner. You need honest answers and feedback, even if it hurts.


3. Talk is cheap. If you say something like "I really service my customers. I really value customer service. I take care of my customers like family" STOP! I've heard this so many times at Chamber functions and business networking events that it makes me sick to my stomach. If that's all you've got then go do something else. HOW do you service your customers? HOW do you value customer service? HOW do you treat them like family? When I've had the guts to ask someone these "in-your-face" questions all I get back is a blank stare. The fact is very few businesses differentiate themselves on the basis of service. It's expensive, it's tedious, and it requires better management than most small businesses will commit to.


4. Be wary of someone who says "We really don't have any competition." This is a business that is going nowhere. One year after it's release the iPod commanded greater than 90% market share. It was a product that had no equal and some would say no rivals. Yet in the past seven years Apple has released 14 additional iPod models. That's one every six months on average. How many business do you know that compete with themselves by releasing a new product every six months. The best businesses, especially the best small businesses, have a keen awareness of who their competition is, where their competition is going and what they need to be doing to lead rather than follow those competitors. Very few small businesses take their competitors seriously enough.

Finally, remember that the object of understanding what makes you different is to guide future ACTIONS. Talk, planning and strategizing are of little use unless you DO something. Make a commitment today to understand what makes you different and to do something with the results you find. If you need some help either getting started or taking action call us or someone else that can guide you. This market is turning out to be brutal for businesses who don't understand their place. For those that know where they stand, how they're different and what they have to offer there are tremendous opportunities to capture market share!