What is a competitive advantage? A competitive advantage is when your business stands out and is viewed by your customers as providing a higher value than the product or service of your competitors. Certainly having a unique product or service is one way, but it can and will often be easily duplicated by a competitor. However, to create loyalty, your customers also seek an emotional connection with you. This can be a major advantage and competitive edge to help make your business stand out from the competition.
The emotional connection that your staff and business create will give you an advantage over the competition and deliver what your customers really want. Not just having a different product or service. Every business should know what their advantages are.
Let’s ask and explore these questions:
- What advantages do your products or services have over your competition in the marketplace?
- Which of these advantages create a compelling reason for customers to do business with you?
- How do your create emotional connections with your customers?
- What are you doing to insure continuous, never ending “memorable” experiences to your customers as to not become stale and to set your business apart from the competition?
I often conduct this exercise throughout the year with my coaching clients to keep them on track. I am surprised when many tell me that they don’t know what the advantages are. Think about this. If you don’t know, why should your customers know.
Emotional advantages can be:
- Staff are friendly and go overboard to help and greet customers
- Staff are extremely knowledgeable about the products and services
- Staff really care and are empathetic to my wants and needs
- Staff really listened to my concerns or questions
- You make it easy and convenient to do business
- Your store or business is exceptionally clean and organized
- You provide a safe environment particularly during the pandemic
- You follow up when a problem occurs with a personal phone call
- Customers receive thank you notes or phone calls after the purchase.
Many businesses will describe their features or amenities that they provide as an advantage but any business can duplicate that. In other words, what are the benefits that you give them that will make your business stand out? As you can see from my list, it mostly boils down to people. Remember, it doesn’t have to be a huge difference or revolutionary in your industry. It just has to make an emotional connection.
Customers will always remember people over product or service
It is not your compelling product or service that will create customer loyalty. It is a better customer experience that becomes the emotional connection and reason for your customer to become loyal. It’s the relationships you and your staff build and continue to nurture with your customers. The question you really need to ask- “If you’re your business suddenly magically disappeared, would your customers miss you or just find some other business to satisfy their needs?”
If the advantages that you wrote down did not exist or no longer existed, would your customers even notice? Will they feel emotionally disappointed? If you don’t have points that differentiate you from your competition and create a significant emotional connection with your customers, then you won’t be missed.
When you create a compelling advantage, you expand the life span of your product or service, stand out from from your competition, build lasting relationships, create a ‘word of mouth’ buzz and customer loyalty for life. Now that is one way to make your Customer Experience Magical!
Need help? Contact Coach John for your FREE Strategy Break Through Session Today at info@johnformica.com