NEVER has it been more important to carve out a distinctive and unique place for your organization in the market than it is today.
The economy is unpredictable.
Competition is intense as new competitors are entering the market at a blistering rate.
New technology “rains down” relentlessly.
Markets are cluttered with sameness; products and services are undifferentiated, relying on price to be the difference. And competitive claims are lost in the crowd.
Customers are more empowered than ever before, establishing relationships with suppliers that deliver distinctive solutions and ignoring those that don’t.
Which organizations are successful and survive this challenging business environment, and what separates them from the others that struggle, hang on and eventually fail?
Those that are able to win this battle are DiFFERENT from their competitors.
They survive the scrutiny of the discriminating customer by providing relevant, compelling and unmatched value.
Those that have no distinctive identity simply don’t make it.
They die.
How do you create a competitive advantage that will survive the dynamics of a chaotic world?
Let’s face it, organizations have difficulty explaining to a prospective customer why they should do business with their organization and not the many others in the market that basically look the same.
If you can’t give specific reasons why your company should be chosen over every other, then you won’t be chosen. The choice will be owned by the organization that is able to cut through the clutter and provide the reason with clarity and simplicity.
Related: Successful Marketers Unlock The "Special" in People
“You don’t want merely to be the best of the best. You want to be the ONLY ones that you do.”—Jerry Garcia, The Grateful Dead
An effective competitive claim isn’t about being “the best”, #1, “the top”, “the leader” or using any other qualitative descriptor that ranks your team against your competitors.
Any descriptor such as these is argumentative and unclear.
Claims like “We offer the best customer service” or “We are #1 in the market” don’t provide the clarity required to be convincing to anyone who is considering a purchase decision.
It’s like throwing it out there and hoping it will resonate with someone.
The ONLY Statement is the way to express your uniqueness - “We are the ONLY ones that…”
It’s binary; it claims that your organization does something (that people desire and care about) that no one else does. It’s simple and clear without the need for lofty language that lacks substance.
Building the ONLY statement is a disciplined process. It requires that you have a strategic game plan with an intimate understanding of what your target customers “crave and lust for”.
And it WILL separate your organization from the crowd.