Why Should Customers Do Business with You?
by Brian Jeffrey, CSP

Why should I do business with you and not with your competitor?
If you don’t have a succinct and compelling answer to this question, you are not alone.
When researching her new book, Creating Competitive Advantage (Currency, 2006), business consultant Jaynie Smith could find only two out of 1,000 CEOs who could name their competitive advantages. That’s a stunning figure because competitive advantage, and a company’s ability to trumpet that advantage to the marketplace, is “the most surefire way to close deals, retain clients, and stay miles ahead of the competition,” says Smith.
Think you’re in the 0.2 percent of companies that effectively communicates its competitive advantage? Think again, says Smith. Most executives who believe they’re in that 0. 2 percent actually have fallen into one of these common traps:
1. They don’t have a competitive advantage, but they think they do.
2. They have a competitive advantage, but don’t know what it is so they lower prices instead.
3. They know what their competitive advantage is, but their sales people neglect to tell clients about it.
4. They mistake “strengths” for competitive advantages.
5. They don’t use metrics to position themselves.
Sound familiar? If so, you’re in good company. Take the example of Southeastern Printing (SEP), one of Smith’s clients. The company completes a 10-point quality check for all print jobs to ensure those jobs are done accurately and on time. To SEP managers, this was simply part of doing business, a behind-the-scenes procedure that was irrelevant to clients. So while SEP sales people assured prospects their print jobs would be completed accurately and on time (which was something all their competitors were saying as well), they never mentioned the 10-step quality control process. In short, SEP had fallen into traps #2 and #3.
“Customers want to know in concrete terms what it is about your product or service that is better than the rest,” says Smith. To that end, she adds, SEP sales reps now tell their prospects: “We deliver on time because 95 percent of print jobs are completed in-house and all undergo a 10-point quality check.” Compelling? You bet. Sales at SEP have been through the roof since the company began stressing its unique competitive advantage.
As the SEP example shows, your product or service doesn’t have to be special by itself for you to have a compelling advantage over your competition. Instead, “the way you make it, test it, package it, deliver it, as well as other extras you provide, can make the critical difference,” says Smith. Maybe you’re the only one in your area who provides just-in-time delivery, saving your customers warehousing and other costs. Or perhaps you provide training for your customers that otherwise would be difficult and expensive for them to find. Or, as in the example of Southeastern Printing, maybe your company has some strong internal competitive advantages that your customers don’t see but which can and should influence their buying decisions. For instance, do you have brand-name suppliers? Do you have partnerships with other organizations that augment or broaden the services you can provide? Have you recently invested in the latest equipment? If you have, say so! Tell your customers, “We just invested $2 million in the latest manufacturing technology, which allows us to double production output, shortening your delivery time by 50 percent.”
Sit down and list every one of your company’s advantages. Keep in mind that they need to be unique to your company and they need to have a specific, measurable benefit to the customer. Then make sure your reps are communicating these advantages to every one of their prospects. “If you do something special, explain it to your customers,” Smith concludes. “Give them specific reasons for paying more for your product or service. Don’t just say you deliver quality; spell it out.”

(From SellingPower.com)