In business, the most important thing you must be able to communicate to a potential customer is the reason why they should buy from you. Without the answer to this question, you’re going to struggle to convert prospects into paying customers.
After all, every customer is faced with a handful of choices before they commit to a new purchase. Of course, they could ultimately choose to buy from your business; but they could just as easily choose any one of your competitors, or they could do nothing at all.
How do you position your business as the best possible solution to their problem?
Well, to start, I always assume that my coaching clients are good at their craft—whether it’s accounting, plumbing, carpentry, or something else. Unfortunately, a well-honed skill isn’t typically enough to get new customers through your doors.
As a small business owner, you must also wear the sales and marketing hat. You must be an expert in getting new customers, selling to them as much as possible, convincing them to buy more often, and retaining them for as long as possible. What’s more, you must provide a product or service that causes customers to want to refer their family and friends to you.
So, how do you become an expert in all of these areas?
Today, I want to walk you through one of the most important exercises you can practice as a business owner. I want you to take a few moments to pretend that you are a potential customer. Step into their shoes and ask the following question:
Out of all of the choices I have, including doing nothing, why should I buy from you?
In other words, what sets your business apart? What can you offer that your competitors don’t, can’t, or won’t offer? In the marketing world, this is something that is often referred to as the unique selling proposition (USP).
When asked this question, a response I often get from clients is, “well, we sell a commodity.” At this point, I will usually tell them that that’s a problem, as the only thing differentiating them from their many competitors is price. If you truly want a prospect to notice you, there must be something significant that causes you to stand out.
To achieve this, you must review every part of your sales process and delivery of your products to your customers, and ask what you do differently than your competitors that your customers might see benefit in.
During Your Review, Ask These 3 Questions:
1. Have you created your own category?
I’ll use my own firm as a real-life example. At our firm, we created a category of tax planning and profit coaching. Why did I, as the owner of a small CPA firm at the time, decide to start coaching small business owners on their sales and marketing?
Simply put, I identified an area where they needed help. The reality is that there were very few options available to them that didn’t involve five-figure monthly advertising budgets. So, I created a distinct category by marrying tax planning to profit coaching.
2. Do you specialize in a particular niche?
While many business owners see niching down as reducing your potential customer base, it actually has the opposite effect.
In El Paso, there was a bookkeeping firm that set themselves apart by specializing in bookkeeping and tax returns for truckers. Now, was this bookkeeping firm better at their craft than other firms in the area? That’s difficult to say. By specializing, however, they were able to become larger and more profitable than many other bookkeeping firms.
3. Can you change your product or service in a way that your competitors can’t match?
If your current offerings don’t stand out, how can you change them so that they will? This will allow you to prevent comparisons to your competitors.
Customers won’t be able to compare apples to apples. Rather, they will be forced to compare apples to oranges. When you provide a product or service that a customer wants and needs but can’t get elsewhere, your business is able to stand out.
3 Actionable Steps to Help Your Business Stand Out:
- List all of the places and ways the customer could satisfy their need aside from you.
- List all of the things you do that your competitors don’t do.
- For every product or service that your business offers, write a sentence on why the customer should buy from you.