The sooner you can weave a unique identity around your business, the less likely it will be to get lost in the thick of countless others offering almost identical products and services. Conversely, the longer you wait to set yourself apart, the greater the mass of competitors in your market will become and the harder it will be to stand out.
That’s simply the way of the world: when everything progresses dynamically, nothing ever stands still. That which doesn’t move forward, falls further behind every day. If you want to sell yourself to the masses, start by asking yourself, “Who am I, anyway?”
Ask the Right Questions
Nobody will clearly explain exactly where your business excels quite like your customers. They could have chosen from countless other accountants, web developers, consultants or landscapers who offer virtually identical services at competitive prices. Nevertheless, your customers keep coming back to you.
What do they appreciate most about your service specifically? Why have your most loyal customers stuck by you? What is the single kindest thing anyone has said about the way you do business? Answers to these questions coalesce into an answer to the single most important question of all, the one that should shape the foundation of everything you do: what makes your business different? Exploit that one quality to seize a leg-up in your company’s value proposition.
Focus On Key Features and Benefits
You are not selling a product or service. In the end, you are pushing benefits. Boiling your value proposition down to a few key points catering to your target audience’s understood needs will hold their attention by focusing strictly on core features designed to eliminate their specific pain points.
Adhering strictly to what you do uniquely well, whether utilizing specially sourced materials or leveraging either proprietary, groundbreaking technology or known-dependable methods, promises something your customers can count on benefiting from every time they call upon you. Again, we are talking about the rewards customers reap only from your business.
Spectacular Signage
Your market longevity hinges on delivering ultra-dependable quality to every customer. At the same time, recognizable style associated with your company’s most valuable substance will keep your brand memorable for years to come. Anyone who has ever cruised past an automotive dealer’s lot during a limited-time sale and been transfixed by bombastic signage or even an inflatable, flailing tube man waving in the breeze understand the power of something big, colorful and unique that makes anyone say, “Now, what’s going on over here?”
Whether your business is getting into the holiday spirit or rallying faithful customers around an anniversary sale, special occasions call for special signage and custom displays. If you can talk someone into your storefront once, you have a chance to make an impression that keeps them coming back. They might even bring friends. That is always worth the extra coin.
Don’t try to outplay your competitors at their own games. Instead, take that same energy and commit it toward writing your own brand’s rules and leveraging what you already do better than anyone else in your market. Find something everybody wants and nobody else can offer. Once you zero in on that edge, tell the world, “I have exactly what you need, and my doors are open.”
