Are you often contacted by prospective customers whose first question is “how much?”
Do you feel that customers in your industry are only looking for the best price, and that they choose the cheapest quote without regard to the quality of the product or service?
Without realising it, you may be indirectly contributing to this.
If there’s nothing unique or outstanding about your business, the only thing a prospective customer will be able to compare you on is price.
So how do you communicate the value and benefits of what you offer? Here is a quick overview…
1. Be confident in what you provide. If you aren’t convinced that your product or service is the best in the business, how can you expect anyone else to? If you don’t truly believe that what you offer is special, your uncertainty will come across without you even being aware of it, in your body language, tone of voice, or the words you choose. Every successful business person truly believes in what they do, and their actions speak louder than their words.
2. Get clear on your point of difference. What exactly is better about your product or service over what your competitors are offering? Are you faster, more effective, or environmentally friendly, for instance? And what is the benefit of that to your consumers? (and if you’ve just realised that you’ve always promoted that you’re the cheapest … is it possible that’s why you’re attracting price-driven customers?). Do some market research and find out the frustrations people have with other businesses in your industry. Then find out what your happy customers love about you.
3. Communicate your point of difference. All too often we think that people should choose us just because we know we’re the best at what we do. But we need to communicate our point of difference in all of our marketing, from our website to our brochures to the words we say about our business at networking events. People don’t know what they don’t know, and it’s up to us to educate our potential customers on how we can make their lives easier and better.
Obviously there’s a lot more to marketing than this, but these three tips will get you thinking about how to stand out from the crowd.
If you’d like a free assessment of your marketing to see how you can create a sharper point of difference, call Julianne Schwenke on (02) 4933 6622. We offer limited complimentary sessions each month to help businesses find their niche. Interested? We’d love to hear from you.