Skate on thin ice
Go places your competitors can’t.
Looking for an edge over the competition? Something that causes the market to take notice? People are always looking for new ideas worth talking about; so if you offer something better, cheaper, or faster – you’ll get attention.
Extremely Fast
Big companies move slowly, often because they are swimming in their day-to-day operations. By staying lean and mean, you can move much faster than they can, making you a better choice for customers in a hurry who need what you have to sell. So if you are truly faster than the competition, market that fact — you’ll sway customers who are tired of long waits and poor communication.
Incredibly Affordable
With a small staff, you can make less money go further. You can lower barriers to entry by offering simpler product configurations, or lower pricing than your competitors offer. Most companies are heavily invested in established methods of selling their products. If they lose revenue trying to keep up with you, they will begin to emulate you. But, by staying more nimble and innovative, you will retain your edge. By the time your competition switches gears to do business your way, you will have established a strong foothold in the market.
Disclose Everything
Your competition might appear vague about how they conduct their business, so flip that by being upfront and candid about what you do, and why you have chosen to do it that way. This will further differentiate your company from others.
Make It Special
Think about how you can inject a little magic for your customer—this can often be in the form of packaging, process, or delivery:
• Amazon puts a smile on every box.
• Apple will let you sit at their stores all day if you want to.
• Starbucks makes you feel like they care about how your order is produced.
Your customers will notice these little bits of pixie dust, and they will share their delight with others.
New Leaders uses these techniques to bring clarity to web design, but these recommendations can apply to many different types of businesses: from a local pizza parlor offering two-for-the-price-of-one specials, to an airline calling you if your flight is delayed. Mileage may vary.
If you have an interesting story about using or observing one of these examples, please tell us about it.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 Unported License.
Posted on Mar 07, 2008 by Kevin Milden
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