How to Differentiate Yourself in the Market
You can’t help it, you’re already doing it!
What makes you different, what sets you apart from any other company in the market, is you. When you’re an entrepreneur or sole proprietor, you’re already differentiating yourself in the market thanks to your vision. Whatever you first saw, made you different from the way it was currently being done. For example, if you’re a plumber, you noticed that there was something you could be doing better than the company you were working for. Or, you saw the opportunity to be a leader and to provide outstanding service to your clients.
To Do: Write down, what in your initial vision made you so excited and convinced that you’d be different than everyone else?
Every day you run your company, you run it with that differentiation in place. From the moment you answer a client call you’ve set yourself apart from the rest of the market, it’s a built in bias. Your personality is professional, you function with integrity, you are determined and you’re strong. When I answer my phone I am calm, professional, warm and inclusive, and all of those things helps the person on the other end develop a feeling of trust for my business and me. As the conversation goes on I meet them where they are, I identify their problem and tell them that I’ve dealt with a similar problem in the past. AS we go into how I can help them, they’ve already relaxed and they have a sense of who I am and what I can do to help them.
Company Culture
Your vision combined with your nature work together to define your company culture. You not only had a vision for how you could be different than others in your market but your product vision sets you apart as well. The culture of your company differentiates your product whether you like it or not.
On a nuts and bolts level, research, on the internet, who your competitors are (people who offer the same products or services as you). Search regionally and if you’re a digital business, search nationally. List their name, price point, telephone number, what’s their culture (their branding, what are they promising. Once you’ve done 1-15 companies, circle cultures you relate to and cross out those you don’t want your business associated with. Analyze the list again and divide them between luxury brand, everyday brand, and who lingers in the middle. This information will show you where your business falls from the perspective of your client. Are you a leader in that market? Are you a luxury product or service? And is that where you want to be placed?
If it isn’t where you want to be, change it. Fine-tune where your business falls and where your clients see your product or service. The purpose is to make sure that your business, your vision, and your service all match where you originally wanted to be. If you’re a luxury brand, you should have luxury prices, and so on. The last thing you want to do is confuse your clients and cause them not to believe you. So if your website says you use high quality materials and you desire to meet the specific needs of your clients, but your prices are everyday, they won’t believe you. If you offer a luxury product and you’re under-pricing yourself, you aren’t capable of delivering the service your original vision wanted to deliver.