One of the hardest questions for businesses to answer is,
“Why should I hire you over your competitors?”
This needs to be one of your easiest questions to answer.
You and your sales teams must understand the unique value your products or services have over any other competitor out there in order to win repeat business. In today’s world, you can’t just be “the Lawyer” or “the General Contractor”. With the rise of the internet and search engines, your buyer will find 20 products and services similar to yours in seconds. It’s not enough to just offer a product of service, you have to go that one, HUGE step further.
It’s important to note that not everyone is going to appreciate your value differentiators and that’s okay. Think back to IKEA and RH.
Is everyone going to want a $12,000 floral silk couch or care about a glass of wine while browsing the store? Nope.
Is everyone going to want to spend the time assembling their own furniture to save a few bucks? Also, a big fat no.
Customers are not homogenous in their outlook, needs or pocketbook. It’s vital to find your tribe and outline your audience or ICPs to know who to target.
What happens in the workshop?
Our brand marketing consultants walk you through a number of exercises to uncover and create value differentiators authentic to your brand that you can use to uniquely position your business. It’s important that whatever is created as your differentiators are TANGIBLE. It’s not enough to say you have “better customer service” or a “better quality product”. It’s virtually meaningless in itself and people can smell that BS a mile away.
You have to back up what you say with evidence or cold hard facts:
- “We strive to have the best customer service in the industry by ensuring we make contact with you within 24 hours of every request”
- “Our products are never made from plastics, only sustainable stainless steel”
You must practice what you preach. If you decide on a value differentiator, then it’s crucial that it be fulfilled all the time or customers will become frustrated and disenfranchised with your brand.
Let’s take a look at some well-known brands where their brand marketing strategy didn’t quite go to plan…
- Wells Fargo‘s slogan was “Together We’ll Go Far” before their account sign up scheme that got them in hot water. The messaging backfired when people realized that the company wasn’t there to help people’s personal growth.
- Applebee’s slogan, “Eating good in the neighborhood”. The popular chain pretended to be “the local watering hole” but in reality, the company is the largest sit-down chain restaurant. The slogan was miles apart from Applebee’s reality and it didn’t play well.
And then there’s the opposite example – where a brand changes its slogan or brand to reflect its evolving values:
- A popular US fitness center and non-profit organization has rebranded twice. It went from being known as the Youth Men’s Christian Association to the YMCA, as it changed to a focus on all males, rather than those of the Christian variety. Since the new millennium, the YMCA has rebranded to “the Y” to be more inclusive of female members.