INSIGHT business coaching
How to Stand Out From the Crowd What are your points of difference? What distinctly different things do you offer? Are you bigger, better, faster, or provide something that’s “can’t-get-it-anywhere-else”? Identifying your “wow” and then communicating it requires strategy and calculated bravery. Success is offering compelling reasons to potential customers so they become not only immediate buyers but longtime loyalists. Generally speaking, you have to cost less (with at least the same value) and/or offer something they can’t get elsewhere. Merchandising Matters That’s why big companies source proprietary products and use brand names to sell through multiple channels, even if the item is the same. They change it a bit—subtle nuances in trim, hardware, or color—and it becomes “unique” to shoppers.
How do people see you? Do they think of you first? Do they think of you at all? Try to see yourself through the eyes of your buyers, then offer a compelling reason to buy. by Kathy Wall
widget can be found at lots of other places. More damaging to their credibility is when they boast about a “new” line that has been sold by their competitors for some time. So beware of descriptions and claims that cannot be substantiated. Differentiating Service If you are service provider, proving you are unique can be even more challenging. Truthfully saying you’re better or faster needs to be qualitative. Unless you have research from a respected source to substantiate a claim, focus instead on things like location and experience.
Can you say you are conveniently located to the city or other popular destinations? After all, time is money and everyone is in a rush these days. Have you had happy customers for Example: a “Sofa” decades? Say so in basic brown ofbut phrase it so fered in store A is that you sound the exact frame as timeless instead the “Brambleberry of “old,” especially Hill Sofa” in lovely if you are trying cabbage rose to woo younger fabric available customers. A good in store B. Most freelance copyoften, store B gets writer can help the sale (and a with this posipotentially higher tioning. Perhaps ticket) because you’ve received they stood out prestigious and among the compecoveted awards? tition. Be sure you note As a service provider, proving you are unique can be challenging. A strong, distinctive brand is one way to these distinctions help you stand out from the crowd. Research the competition to ensure you create a totally unique identity in your marketing You don’t have to in your marketplace. Make the colors, typography, layout, logo, and taglines uniquely you. materials, social reinvent the wheel media, and websites. Ask to use the icons or logos of the when merchandising, sometimes all it takes is to tweak the award-givers to make these honors stand out. styling and give it a new name. Use keywords that play well with your company image. Hire a professional photographer and photo stylist at least once a year to capture the best of your work. This is not just But, hold on, there’s a caveat here. Manufacturers who launch to document your work for reference but to showcase it as “new” products often tout that their new widget is, well, new. Because they are busy working with customers, they often you rise above your competition. Have the copywriter craft a blurb about each project that highlights what makes that don’t see what buyers are seeing, which is that the “new” 18 | wf-vision.com | May + June 2018
