Shout It From the Rooftops, “I Am Different.”

When it comes to having an effective website there are three critical elements that are important if you are going to capture your visitor’s interest and eventually turn them into a new customer. The first I wrote about a couple of weeks ago on the importance of making it very clear to your web visitors what problems you solve and how they can quickly discern how you can help them.  See “Can You Help Me … Please” blog post.

Step Two … Differentiate Yourself
The next step is just as important. And that is to clearly state just what makes you different from your competitors. When this question is asked of most small business owners, 90% of the time the response is we have better “service” and/or better “quality” than our cross town rivals. This may be true, but since EVERYONE says this, it is NOT a differentiator when stated this way.

What each business must do to define how it can be of greater value to its customers than Brand X is to delineate those business capabilities that allow you to provide better service or make a higher quality product. Do you do something faster? Do you have customer interface software that makes it easier to do business with you 24/7? Do you have in-house capabilities that provide distinct services? Can you offer local services over an out of town competitor? Dig deep …. this type of introspection is key to understanding what makes your business thrive.

Promoting Your Competitive Edge
Once these competitive differentiators are defined, you’ll need to package and promote them in a distinctive way that lets website visitors, not only know that you can solve their problem, but you have a competitive edge over those who offer similar products or services.

Don’t Underestimate Yourself
Some of you might say, “What I do is not any different than those I compete against.” My answer to this statement is that your customers are buying from you for a reason today. Understand why and you will have a start on what makes you different. Secondly, talk to others in your industry and learn what they are doing to implement new processes and technology that enables them to do things faster, at a lower cost, with fewer errors, or provides a more engaged customer experience. And finally, don’t underestimate what you have done to this point to be successful. Look at those unique qualities, put them in a marketing plan, and SHOUT them from the rooftops, or at least from your homepage on your website.

Step Three?
Find out in a couple of weeks.