10 Ways to Differentiate Your Business

Why would a customer want to purchase your good or service over that of a competitor? How do you set yourself apart from the competition?

Businesses everywhere are trying to figure out how to differentiate themselves from their competitors. 

This is sometimes called your Unique Value Proposition (UVP). But for our purposes in this discussion I will use the term Differentiation.

Product or service differentiation is a marketing process that showcases the differences between offerings by various businesses. 

Differentiation is making a product or service more attractive by contrasting their unique qualities with the competition.

This is done all of the time by some of the most successful businesses in the world. They have made their name by articulating their unique capabilities, and delivering on them. 

Perhaps in your industry, when others are scaling back their products/services you might see a benefit in expanding yours. 

There are plenty of examples of successful companies and how they differentiated their offering to stand out from the crowd. After all, you want to lure prospective customers in your door and away from competitors. 

As I’ve said before, you want your unfair share of the market.

Another reason for differentiating yourself is to help you avoid competing on price alone. 

Think of your differentiation as your secret ingredient. It's something that's unique to your business. And it offers a definitive, tangible benefit to your customer.

Some differentiators are easy to figure out, while others are harder to come by. Ultimately, the question becomes – Why me?

Let’s take a look at some ideas for helping you answer that question.

1. Know the problem you’re solving. You are really in business selling your product or service because you are solving a problem for your customers. 

Make sure that the problem you’re trying to solve is real. Make sure you understand exactly what that problem is. 

List the main issues your potential customers have and create a differentiator to address them.

2. Know your ideal buyer persona. Having a great offering is a good thing. But if you’re not marketing it to the people that need your product you’re wasting marketing dollars. You want to market to the right people with the right message at the right time.

3. Take a look at your competition. What do they offer that you don’t? Is that offering significant? What do you offer that they don’t? Is their location and advantage for them, or is yours? What is bringing customers to them?

4. Define your unique value proposition. Maybe you're the only dentist with a kid’s play area on the premises. Or maybe you’re a business consultant has experience working with and for Fortune 100 companies. 

What is it that you do that others cannot do, or cannot do as well as you? These are examples of differentiators that might set you apart.

5. Your differentiator(s) may change. Another competitor may match one of your differentiators, or may exceed your capability. You may develop a new one. Don't be afraid to change the message as your business evolves. 

Your customers evolve, you need to be agile as well.

6. Offer a guarantee. Offer something to address common customer frustrations. For example, guarantee that your service delivery technician will show up within 15 minutes of the scheduled time or provide the first hour of work free. 

What you’re trying to do is build trust with your customers and give them a no-risk opportunity to do business with you.

7. Be specific. Be as clear as you can on what it is that you offer that others don’t. Put it out there in big, bold colors and use it as a differentiator.

8. Never make a claim you can't deliver on.  Be sure you can deliver what you promise or your differentiator(s) will be useless. Then, your reputation will suffer, as will your business.

9. Make sure your employees know and deliver on your differentiator(s). It does no good to advertise a unique good or service if your employees can’t follow through for you. Make sure they understand your differentiator(s) and deliver on them consistently.

10. Build great customer relationships. Every step in the buyer/seller process is a chance to build and strengthen a great customer relationship. Work on it all the time and make sure your employees do the same. 

Remember, buyers and sellers with the best relationships will do the most business together.

So, then what? Once you've established your differentiator(s), reduce it into a few words and then communicate it at every touch point. This is your elevator pitch! 

Use it in your ads, letterhead, marketing collateral, your website, signage, sales calls, and beyond. Your differentiators should roll right off of your tongue.

Think of it this way: what makes you choose one grocery store, dentist or moving company over another? Chances are it's their success in defining their differentiator and getting that message to the right marketplace. That’s what you want to do, too.

This should be a good start to get you thinking about how to make your company stand out from the competition. Above all, when defining your differentiators, be brutally honest in your evaluation. I guarantee that your customers will – either directly to you or by taking their business elsewhere.

For more information about creating your Unique Value Proposition, or to see how The Cobalt Group can help you with any other business or leadership challenges you are facing, Contact us.

We want to hear what you think. Leave a comment and let’s start a discussion.

Copyright © 2019 The Cobalt Group LLC. All rights reserved.

Your Value To Your Customer

Most companies have a value proposition. They have some product(s) or service(s) that they believe will benefit their customers. While this value proposition is a great thing to be able to articulate, it isn’t what your real value to your customer is or should be. The customer, on the other hand, wants to believe that they will see value from those products or services. But is that what they really want? My experience is that the value that they see comes more from how you do business with them rather than the actual product or service you’re providing.

The key is to go beyond a value proposition statement and do what you can to help the customer solve their problems. So how do you do that? To begin with, your value begins by getting to know your customer. Get to know them deeply. Know what they do, why they do it, and how they do it. Know what their strategic plan is; learn what their problems are. Many of the problems you can help solve are based in them getting from where they are to achieving their goals. Knowing those goals and why they are important is key here, and will differentiate you from the competition that doesn’t try to understand them.

To do this you have be in there talking with them. Find out what they are trying to do and why. Be an Excellent Listener. Try to get to know their problems before they become a business opportunity. Help shape the way they want the solution to look. For this to happen it will require an investment of your time so that you can understand what they are trying to solve.

The truth is that what customers really want are partners that can help them solve problems. They have plenty of vendors trying to sell them something. So what this really means is that you must move beyond the transactional sale of a product or service and become a business partner and a trusted agent. If you are able to do that then you will increase Your Value To Your Customer.

We want to hear what you think. Leave a comment and let’s start a discussion.

Copyright © 2015 The Cobalt Group, LLC. All rights reserved.

When They Say “NO”

It doesn’t matter what you do for a living, there will come a time (many, actually) when a customer will say NO. It could be that what you are offering doesn’t meet their needs, they have gone with a competitor, or decided that they don’t want, or aren’t prepared, to make a decision at the moment. As disappointing as it can be, it’s not the end of the world and there are ways to turn it into a positive.

Years ago when I was selling software I was trying to get on a couple of teams for a major government outsourcing procurement. I was trying to get on two of the teams in particular. I only ended up on one of them. Nothing unusual there. So over the next 12 months or so of the source selection process I stayed in touch with the other team and actually worked with them on another program. When the contract was awarded our team was not selected, but the other team I tried to get on was. I called and congratulated them and moved on to closing other business. A few months later they called me. The software provider they had originally chosen was not able to be used in that environment and they were now in search of a replacement. It would now be a competitive runoff between us and two other vendors. Back in the game!

The point here is that a NO is not always the end of the story. There are ways to handle a NO that may keep the relationship alive. So what should you do when you hear NO?

Ask for feedback. Why were your products or services not selected? Did your company lack something the customer wanted? What could you do better the next time? No one wants to hear criticism but if it helps win future business it is worth hearing.

Thank them for their consideration. No one will win everything they attempt. But if you at least got to be considered, be thankful. And let the customer know that you appreciate their time too.

Stay in touch. Maintain contact with them, especially if you think there is potential to do business down the road. Remember a recent blog of mine where I discussed building long term relationships. Customers don’t want to feel like the only reason you’re there is to sell them something. Sometimes a loss may lead to another opportunity to help that customer in a different and/or even bigger way. So stay in touch. Send them pertinent information as needed. Keep trying to learn their business. But don’t be a stalker. Make your interactions with them relevant.

Also remember, getting told NO may be a blessing in disguise. Not every deal is a good deal. You will have to determine how to react to a NO. My experience has shown me that staying professional and in contact after a NO built a longer term relationship that in some cases reaped bigger rewards.

Oh, the shootout with the other two vendors…we won and it was the biggest software sale of my career, and the biggest in that company for the year. I am still in touch with some of those teammates even 12+ years later.

We want to hear what you think. Leave a comment and let’s start a discussion.

Copyright © 2014 The Cobalt Group, LLC. All rights reserved.

Looking Within to Look Without

In a recent post I discussed building long term client relationships. I started thinking about the people I really liked working with and what their qualities were. I’m a social person. Not everyone else is so I have learned to adapt to the social styles of colleagues and clients alike. The one thing we all have in common is that we are human. And all humans have needs. Often, I will try to put myself in my customer’s shoes and ask myself what are the characteristics of the person(s) with whom I prefer doing business. It boiled down to a few basic traits.

Is there chemistry? Some people we just like and don’t know why. We just sort of click with them. Others, not so easy. I can work with people I don't click with but it's easier there is a good chemistry.

Are they professional? I want them to behave like a business person. I also want them to treat me like a professional too.

Do they seem to care about my needs and concerns? When someone at least acts like they care I am more willing to do business with them. I know they are trying to make a sale but I don’t want to feel like all I am is their next sale. That will sour me instantly.

Are they reliable? The people I do business with must earn my trust. I want know I can count on them to be there if I need them. I also want a good deal for whatever I buy but I am willing to pay a little more if I believe the customer service from one person will be better than another.

It’s kind of like looking in a mirror and seeing what is reflected. Am I being to others what I want them to be to me? Am I giving them a reason, beyond the product or service I’m offering, to want to do business with me?

Ask yourself that question. And be honest with your answer.

We want to hear what you think. Leave a comment and let’s start a discussion.

Copyright © 2014 The Cobalt Group, LLC. All rights reserved.

Ask Excellent Questions

Following up on last week’s post on how to Be an Excellent Listener, I thought I might address how to Ask Excellent Questions. 

Time is valuable for both you and your customers  . So when you are able to get in front of them make sure you don’t waste it. 

Being an Excellent Listener works best when you Ask Excellent Questions. 

All questions are not created equal. 

If you want to get more useful information from your customer, you have to ask the right questions.

Here are some ideas on how to elicit that information so that you and your customer get the most out of your valuable meeting time.

Ask Excellent Questions that:

• Show that you've done you homework. Before your call, make sure you do some research. Most people appreciate it when they believe you have an interest in them.
• Are asked one at a time. Don’t ask a barrage of questions in one breathe. Ask them individually. It’s easier for a customer to respond to a single question than it is to a set of sequential questions.
• Are to the point. Avoid the long preambles. Get to the question so that your customer doesn’t have to try to discern what you’re really trying to ask.
• Are customer-focused. Ask your questions in a way the makes them feel you are not there for your own benefit, but to help them. Questions that start with “I” are probably not customer-focused.
• Are not leading. Ask overhead question when able. Try to get them to talk openly. Avoid leading question to get a desired response.
• Elicit useful information. You want to probe for the information that helps identify their issues and needs. You also want to understand the issues and needs behind them.

In the sales training courses I have taken we are taught that every answer should lead to another question. 

It’s not true for every question but the real point is to follow up answers with additional questions to seek clarification or to probe deeper into that issue. 

And when you aren't sure you have a complete answer to your question, keep probing.

Now go Ask Excellent Questions.

For more information about how The Cobalt Group can help you with any business or leadership challenges you are facing, Contact us.

We want to hear what you think. Leave a comment and let’s start a discussion.

Copyright © 2014 The Cobalt Group, LLC. All rights reserved.

Be an Excellent Listener

We live in a world where there are many demands on our time. That is true not only for you, but for your customers and colleagues, too. 

These time demands mean that it can be harder to get meetings with customers. 

So when you do get in front of your customers (or colleagues) it is important not to waste their time, or yours. There is a reason for the meeting so have a plan on how to accomplish those objectives. 

In any meeting there is ideally an information exchange. And hopefully that goes both ways. 

To make sure you get the information you need from the meeting you must learn to be an Excellent Listener.

Some meetings are really product or service presentations. For those meetings you will be talking more than listening. 

In those cases I recommend allowing 25-30% of the allotted time for discussion. 

You want to make sure the customer understands what you’ve presented and be able to address any questions.

Most meetings, however, are about gathering information from a customer or potential customer. You are listening for a customer to express their needs and/or issues. 

For these types of meetings, and for the discussion part of a presentation, here are some recommendations on how to be an Excellent Listener:

•    Be prepared. Not knowing what you want to get or a plan on how to get it will not be helpful, and it will waste everyone’s time. Have a call plan and use it.
•    Remove distractions. Turn off your phones or put them on silent. Give them your full attention. Make them feel like you value their time.
•    Don’t talk too much to make a point. Make the point, look for acknowledgement, and move on. Learn to be comfortable with silence too.
•    Get confirmation on what the customer says. It reinforces your memory and lets them know you’re listening.
•    Unless you’re giving a presentation, you shouldn’t provide more than 60% of the data exchanged. But in most instances I prefer to think of it another way: you have two ears and one mouth so use them in that proportion in the meeting. 
•    The more you let the customer talk, the more you will learn.
•    And lastly, follow up. Whether it is to confirm the meeting outcome or to ask for additional information/clarification, follow up with them.

Being an Excellent Listener makes your customer feel like they are more than just a sale. It makes them feel like there is more of a partnership. 

And being an Excellent Listener may also lead to the following:

•     Better customer satisfaction
•     More effective information sharing
•     Better understanding
•     Better results

For more information about how The Cobalt Group can help you with any business or leadership challenges you are facing, Contact us.

We want to hear what you think. Leave a comment and let’s start a discussion.

Copyright © 2014 The Cobalt Group, LLC. All rights reserved.

Build Long Term Client Relationships

It really doesn’t matter if you’re business is more transactional or has a longer opportunity cycle, building a long term relationship with your client is important. Why? Because the relationship is not just about the current deal you’re trying to close, it’s about a lifetime.

All things being equal, most people buy from someone they feel that they like. They buy from someone that makes them feel like more than the next sale. I have seen the sales and business developers that have been interested in the customer only up until the point that they sign on the dotted line, and I have seen the ones that developed and cultivated the long term relationships with their clients. Both can be successful in the short term, but my observation and professional experience has shown me that the business person (owner, sales, BD, etc.) that builds relationships with their customers will do better in the long term. Let me ask you this. When you’re the buyer, do you want to feel as though the only interest in you is getting you to buy? Like most people, I am social. So when someone develops a relationship with me I am way more likely to return to them for the next purchase. And it’s not just about the social aspect. There is the familiarity and the trust that develops too.

A growing client relationship is important. That person you’re doing business with now will not always be in that position. There is often turnover and people move to new jobs within the company, or to new companies. Just like you have a career progression in mind, so do they. Follow them. One day, perhaps, they will be in a role of greater responsibility that will enable you to provide a greater degree of support. They will remember who built a relationship on being a valued partner vice being there only to profit, and it’s always easier to do business with someone you know.

It will take work. And frankly, it won’t apply to everyone with whom you do business. But for those with whom you choose to choose to build a relationship, it will take a dedicated effort to cultivate it and maintain it. The good news is that today’s technologies make it much easier than in the past. There are a lot of social media options like LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, etc., that enable you to follow your clients as you both progress in your careers. Use them. But not exclusively.

And that leads me to a couple of other suggestions. Every now and then pick up the phone and call. Meet them for lunch, coffee, a drink, or whatever. The social media thing makes it easy to have a relationship in short comments and ‘likes’, but that person will value it more if you take the time to personally reach out to them. Personal interaction goes much further than a ‘like’ on a social media site. There is no hard and fast rule because each person is different but my recommendation is to try to have physical contact (voice or in person) with them about 3-4 times a year at a minimum, depending upon your relationship with them. They will appreciate the effort you’re making to stay in touch. Wouldn't you?

Chasing Light

It doesn’t matter if you are a sales rep, a business developer, an operations line manager, senior business executive, or entrepreneur, one of the measures of the health of your business is your pipeline. 

Having a robust, qualified pipeline is the goal of any business that wants to stay in business. 

A weak pipeline may be due to many things. 

But it seems the common knee-jerk mindset is that to increase your pipeline you just need more activity. 

And everyone knows that more ‘activity’ always leads to opportunities that fill a pipeline.

Remember back in elementary school when the teacher would take a box and cover the opening with black construction paper? Some light source would be put in the box and the classroom lights would be turned off. 

The teacher would take a pin and begin to poke holes in the construction paper. Out of these holes came little rays of light, usually intending to simulate the constellations. 

It was cool. And the more light beams that emanated, the cooler it seemed.

In business it’s sometimes like being back in that elementary school classroom with the lights off. 

When it’s dark in the room every little ray of light catches your eye. The tendency is to grasp for that ray of light. 

Then, the next beam catches your attention and you reach for it too. And then the next, and the next and the next. 

And when you are in the dark (struggling to build your pipeline or show progress toward your goals) reaching for every ray of light (i.e. activity) seems the quickest way to get out of the dark.

The problem with this is that not every activity or new opportunity are beneficial. 

Activity, for activity’s sake, usually does little for the bottom line. It may make you and upper management look and feel like you are being productive, but it seldom does anything else. 

For it to be productive, that ‘activity’ needs to lead to actual ‘opportunities’ which must be then qualified as real or not. And usually, very few opportunities are added to a pipeline by just having ‘activity’. 

What I mean here are meaningless marketing and customer activities and management ‘directed’ activities that historically produce no results; and/or filling a pipeline with deals that may turn your activity dashboard green but that you know won’t lead to no new revenue.

Regardless of the pressure you are under, real or perceived, your resources (time, people, money, etc.) can only be spread so thin before they become ineffective for any of your opportunities, especially the ones that are winnable. 

So the discipline that is needed is to not reach for every ray of light but to determine which ones are the right for your business. 

The sales and BD reps should know their waterfront well enough to know what activities interest and benefit their customers. 

They should also know which activities don’t lead to better market awareness of what you’re selling, gain more customer intimacy or increase in the size of the pipeline. 

Management, as well, needs to trust that their front line reps know their market well enough to understand what works and doesn’t work to fill a pipeline with opportunities to pursue.

So then, when you have chosen which rays of light to reach for, a disciplined qualification and prioritization process, if followed, will help you stay focused on what actually works and help prevent you from just Chasing Light!

For more information about how The Cobalt Group can help you and your sales or business development force, or with any business or leadership challenges you are facing, Contact us.

We want to hear what you think. Leave a comment and let’s start a discussion.

Copyright © 2013 The Cobalt Group, LLC. All rights reserved.

The One That Got Away

In the second year of my first sales job with a major IT company I was working the biggest deal I had in my pipeline to that date. 

It was going to be $8.5M over a five year period. The math was easy and even back then it would have been half of my annual quota for the next five years (assuming no yearly increases – yeah, right!). And with a deal that size I had a lot of help from upper management.

I was in tight with the customer. It was a small group and they were all of the decision makers. 

Fairly fresh out of many sales training courses, I applied all of that knowledge to every aspect of my capture plan for that deal. I met with the customer often, and a lot of those were at his request. 

I knew the requirements inside and out and we had a solution that answered it, and then some. The customer verified that our solution was a great fit, too.

Then, as often happens in government sales, the program was put on hold. The customer didn’t know for how long but felt that it was most likely till the end of the government fiscal year. 

I wasn’t too worried. That was 6 months away and I had two things in my favor – the first month of the next government fiscal year was also the last month of my company’s fiscal year so I thought it would be a great close out for that year and, secondly, I had a great pipeline that would take me over my quota if that deal happened to slip even further.

I told that customer that I would check in periodically and asked that if things changed to please let me know as well. 

I called about 3 months later and discovered that only weeks prior they had gotten their money and went with a competitor. I asked why they chose the competition and, in so many words, he told me that my competitor stayed engaged and sold them on their solution. 

I was mad at myself (and so was my management) for making such a rookie mistake – I quit selling!

From then on, I made sure that I never quit selling to any customer, even if a program was cancelled. 

That discipline paid off two years later when I closed the biggest software sale of my career, and the biggest one that company had that year – all because I stayed engaged with a customer that had another competitor’s solution selected and their customer didn’t like it. 

Because I was in contact on a frequent basis even after we weren't selected, they called me back and 19 months later I closed the deal.

As I learned more about the trade of selling I have made many other mistakes since ‘the one that got away’. I learned the hard way that in the field of sales 

– Never Quit Selling!

For more information about how The Cobalt Group can help you with your sales force, or with any business or leadership challenges you are facing, Contact us.

We want to hear what you think. Leave a comment and let’s start a discussion.

Copyright © 2013 The Cobalt Group, LLC. All rights reserved.