A business will always be mediocre unless it offers something special and valuable that distinguishes it from the rest of the pack. There is just too much competition for your customers’ interest.
What all businesses must do is look deep inside and see what is unique or different about themselves from the competition. Once you have found this you have found your value proposition.
If your own company doesn’t have a value proposition, it’s not too late to discover it. One online sporting goods store chose to hire marketing professionals to turn their marketing program on its head. The company was flooded by new customer interest once they discovered how to present their unique benefits to their customers!
How marketing sets you apart
Customers choose between Business A and Business B because of specific differences between the two. Some businesses offer unique goods and great prices compared to the competition, others offer the same goods but pair them with fantastic service that goes above and beyond.
Another business might have a wonderful brand image that intrigues buyers to trust them even though the price may be higher.
Other businesses are able to give the whole package: good products and support with excellent service and prices.
Finding your value proposition
When looking at your own company and trying to find ways to improve it, finding your own value proposition is essential. As is any other specialized marketing activities that you might decide to try. But being passive and sitting back expecting customers to line up at your door is a mistake.
Creating your value proposition is not only a good idea so that you can show customers how your are special – it is also important to give your company a sense of identity.
Your value proposition is at the core of what you present to customers and also at the heart of your own business model. Employees in your company also benefit from a clear value proposition. Because it gives them a focus, something to be proud of that they can point to and say “we’re different and better from the rest”.
What makes your business unique?
There is something unique about every company. Even if you don’t think that there is anything particularly special about your own business right now, look again and look deeper.
There is always something unique about a business that can be nurtured and cultivated until it becomes something that will make the business really stand out from the rest of the competition.
A case study
The online sporting goods store mentioned earlier hired marketing specialists to analyze their business from an outsider’s perspective so that they could get an idea of how they could better present themselves to their customers and effectively present their value proposition. At first the company really didn’t realize that they did anything better than their competition.
When the marketing specialists looked more deeply into how the company ran the business they discovered that that particular company had an excellent knowledge of the industry and the goods available for their customers. As a result, they were able to give very specific product recommendations after receiving inquiries which led to more satisfied customers.
In the end they chose to utilize that skill to develop a better customer portal where visitors could choose different options that they were looking for, and the website would give several recommended items that matched the product profile that the customer had asked about. This led to even better sales than before!
This is an example of how a simple look inward may reveal some unique talent that competitors don’t have. Once you find your own unique talents, how can you utilize them? What will your value proposition be?