Differentiation Is Not Enough

May 26, 2010

Let’s be honest. While you may provide your customers with the “best” option, the reality is that they have more than enough adequate options. I put best in quotes, because today being the “best” in not enough to win.

Think about this:

  • I think Diet Coke is the best soda, but I’m okay with Diet Pepsi.
  • UPS is my choice for overnight delivery, but I’m okay with Fedex.
  • Starbucks is my favorite coffee, but Myorga Coffee is just fine with me.

If your product or service is merely the best among adequate choices, your market position is precarious. You’ll have to work harder and harder, for less and less – just like everybody else.

By the way, differentiation is no longer enough – to succeed in the future you must radically differentiate yourself. You must become a market of one. For example, we’re working with a company that provides strategic planning for a tightly defined vertical market. When we started working with them, their objective was to communicate how their strategic planning process is the best. Our advice was that if we focus the conversation on strategic planning, we lose. As long as their prospects can compare them to other strategic planners, there was no way to differentiate adequacy.

What we had to do was identify where and how we could become indispensable. We had to identify the problems that weren’t being solved by traditional strategic planning, and focus the message, the approach, and the process to solving those problems. This required us to more tightly define their market, to probe deeply into the results their clients desired, and to develop the tools to have the “what’s it worth conversation.”

The same is true for you. Stop asking yourself, “What can we do to be the best?” Instead, focus – maniacally – on where and how you can be indispensable.

Filed Under Business Growth Strategy, Sales Strategy | | Blog Home

Tags: , , , ,

«
»

Comments

7 Responses to “Differentiation Is Not Enough”

  1. Dan Collins says:
    May 27, 2010 at 9:07 am

    Excellent summary. Concise, Cogent and Clear.

    “Radically Different – Focus maniacally – how can you be indispensable?” Outstanding

    Dan

    Reply
  2. Doug Davidoff says:
    May 27, 2010 at 9:18 am

    Thanks Dan.

    Reply

Trackbacks

  2. Winning With Procurement | The Fast Growth Blog says:
    June 23, 2010 at 8:09 am

    [...] Purchasing is the grand commoditizer and, as such, plays right into a Demand Creator’s ability to radically differentiate. [...]

    Reply
  3. Product vs. Service Sale: A Crucial Distinction | The Fast Growth Blog says:
    November 1, 2010 at 1:02 pm

    [...] “now” and the impact that “now” has on their organization.  Your efforts will focus on radical differentiation, and while your volume may be lower (everyone that needs “it” doesn’t need it “now”), [...]

    Reply
  4. Defining a Remarkable Customer Experience | The Fast Growth Blog says:
    January 28, 2011 at 1:17 pm

    [...] purpose of creating a remarkable experience is to make absolutely certain no one can find a substitute for what your company offers. When there is no substitute for what you offer, you cannot be commoditized. When you cannot be [...]

    Reply
  5. The Most Important Power in Business | The Fast Growth Blog says:
    February 22, 2011 at 2:58 pm

    [...] written before, the single best way to capture the pricing power that Buffet is talking about is to be indispensable to your core market. Filed Under Business Growth Strategy | SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "The [...]

    Reply
  6. Someone Has To Write It | Webalize Your Business says:
    January 26, 2012 at 6:02 pm

    [...] intense and competitive marketplace today.  There’s tremendous pressure on margins and differentiating is tougher than ever.  Do people really think they can accelerate profitable growth, scale a company and maximize their [...]

    Reply


Leave a Reply