Differentiating is the one thing that sets you apart from the competition. It’s WHY customers, clients or patients should choose you over and above anyone else. Communicating this uniqueness is a powerful and persuasive part of each sales and marketing piece you produce.
This is a very weak area for almost every business and one which really hinders growth.
The problem is that customers have become more discerning, which means they’re looking for reasons to change or simply use another business: unique reasons; competitive advantages; things that are desirable to them that no other business can offer them.
But because so few businesses create this uniqueness, most people (rightly or wrongly) think ALL businesses are the same within each industry.
So, for example, they think all plumbers are the same, all printers are the same, all furniture stores are the same, and so on. Changing, for the sake of changing, to another supplier who is just going to be like the existing one just isn’t worth the hassle. Better the devil you know!
How can you expect your prospects or customers to choose your business over and above any of the competition if they can’t quickly see what it is the business does which is so unique and so beneficial to them?
Outstanding businesses have been founded on a differentiator alone. For example, here’s a very well-known differentiator:
‘Red hot pizza delivered to your door
in 30 minutes or less – guaranteed.’
Tom Monaghan of Domino’s Pizza created one of the most successful fast-food franchises in the world based on the strength of this differentiator. It lasted many years until they finally had to remove it because of a couple of fatalities caused by their drivers rushing to deliver the pizzas! But by then, the business was well established.
Just think for a moment about what Tom did
Notice that he doesn’t say, ‘the best-tasting pizza’. Domino’s pizzas are good, but not the best you can get. No, what he focuses on is what HIS customers (Avatar Profile of the target market) really want.
And his customers (primarily students living within a 5‑minute radius of each pizza outlet) often buy on impulse, so they want food delivered quickly, food that is hot!
Sure, they want the pizza to taste good, but they are prepared to ‘suffer’ a little on quality for hot pizza delivered quickly!
Notice that Tom couldn’t have crafted this powerful differentiator if he hadn’t known who his target market was. That’s why target market has to come before the other Core Elements.
Also notice that a differentiator is NOT about what you do; it’s about what you can do for your customers. Find out what your customers want, and then give it to them in a simple and easy-to-understand statement.
Also, understand that when you create a powerful differentiator, it’s highly likely that your competition will copy you. But that’s okay. You see, as long as you’re the first, like Dominos was or the likes of Fed Ex were (guaranteed next-day delivery), this gives you what’s known as ‘pre-eminence’ in your market and is always sufficient to give you the edge you need to rapidly grow your business.
To help you understand this further, I’ll tell you a classic story that dates back to 1920s America.
At that time there was an unsuccessful beer company called Schlitz Beer lying a lowly eighth in their market. They went to number 1 in six short months by using a differentiator.
Here’s what happened.
At this time there were eight or nine different brewing companies aggressively competing for the same market. Everyone was communicating the same message: that their beer was the purest. They didn’t explain what ‘pure’ meant to the beer drinker, they just kept saying that it was pure, pure, pure. Unfortunately for Schlitz, they were losing ground.
Luckily for them, they were introduced to Claude Hopkins, one of the true legends of marketing. Many of his strategies are still being used today by people like me. Claude asked to be taken around their manufacturing plant.
Like all good marketing people, he wanted as much background information as possible.
As he was being shown around the Schlitz plant, he was amazed at how they made their beer.
First and foremost, their facilities were right at the base of Lake Michigan. Back in the early twenties this water was very pure. Despite this, Schlitz sunk two 5,000- foot-deep artesian wells on the shores because they had to go deep enough to find water the right combination of mineral content to make the best possible beer.
They explained how they went through 1623 different tests and experiments over five years to identify the finest mother yeast cell that could produce the richest taste and flavour. They showed him the intricate water distillation process, in which it was heated to 5,000 degrees Fahrenheit, and then cooled down and condensed. They carried out this process three times to ensure the water was absolutely purified.
They talked about the bottling process where they steamed each bottle at a temperature of 1600 degrees Fahrenheit to kill all bacteria. They finished by telling Claude they had every batch tasted to make sure it was indeed pure and rich before they would even bottle it and send it out the door.
Claude was staggered. The lengths Schlitz went to purify their beer was amazing. He said to them, ‘Why don’t you tell people this story?’ They replied by saying, ‘Everybody goes through this process; it’s not unique. It’s what must be done to ensure the beer is so pure.’
Claude replied by saying, ‘No one knows about this. The first person who tells this story will gain distinction and pre- eminence in their marketplace from then on.’
Schlitz was the first and only beer company that ever told the story of how their beer was formed. It made the word pure take on a totally different meaning in the eyes of their prospects and customers, and completely differentiated them from the competition.
The impact was instant and remarkable: a rise to number 1 from number 8 in just six short months. That’s the power of a differentiator!
And there are other VERY IMPORTANT factors to consider.
If you are viewed by your customers and prospects as the same as the competition, what do you think becomes the important criterion when customers want your product or service?
That’s right: PRICE.
There’s no hiding the fact that as soon as you create the differentiator for the business, you automatically take the business out of the ‘price war’ and into the nirvana of higher prices/fees – and less competition! Or – worst case – the same price but the ability to win more custom.
With the advent of the likes of Amazon and their incredible reach and purchasing power, it’s so important for you to differentiate your business from everyone else. You must make it as hard as possible for people to compare you with others.
I would say this is the one big thing that holds back many businesses from being very successful.
