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With a sea of distributors offering the same products and services, building sustainable differentiation point is a relentless challenge for the small businesses today which makes it even more important.
In a cluttered market, if you can’t stand out from the crowd, your chance of success will shrink significantly. In order to succeed, small businesses today need to find effective strategies to stay ahead of the game and differentiate meaningfully from the crowd.
Whether you have a headcount of 2 or 20, here are five simple tips that will enable you to develop a unique value proposition and differentiate yourself from the masses.
Be clear about your core product or service offering. It may sound obvious, but many businesses attempt to do too many things, becoming a jack of all trades and master of none.
If you are clear about your business focus, you can easily communicate that vision to your customers.
Make sure your employees are on the same page and build their knowledge around that product or service, so you appear as experts in the field.
This creates a more positive customer experience and builds a good reputation for your company in the long run.
Customers appreciate it when businesses go the extra mile. Try looking at ways you can enhance your services and go beyond customer expectations.
For example, a corner shop that sells bicycles and spare parts could start a cycling group where hobbyists can gather every week. Over time, you will find a community of people with similar interests. It also helps you build rapport with your customers.
The return on investment may not be obvious at first, but in the long term, your business will grow organically through word of mouth.
It has been scientifically proven that rewards motivate action. When we anticipate a reward, a certain part of our brain, called the nucleus accumbens, gets activated.
Look into your wallet, and you probably have a loyalty card from a café or restaurant that promises a free drink or discount upon collecting 10 stamps. The next time you’re in the area, there is a higher chance you’ll visit those outlets again.
Little incentives like this can be easily executed and won’t have much of an impact on your overall revenue. However, it builds customer loyalty and keeps them coming back.
Think about how you treat your good friends. Then replace those friends with your customers. What would you do differently in the way you communicate?
As a business owner, you have the power to decide how you want people to feel about you and your company.
Customers are human too, and if you treat them like your friends, they will do the same.
This is mutually beneficial to both parties as they too will be more forgiving if you make a mistake in the future.
Instead of competing against large corporations with unlimited budgets, think about what you can do locally, reaching out to the community around you. What are people talking about? Is there a local event you can leverage?
Supporting a good cause or participating in community events can also boost your brand image and increase top-of-mind awareness.
Putting these simple tips to action may seem daunting at first, as it would disrupt a familiar workflow.
However, it is necessary to adopt new practices in order to stay ahead of the game. If you are willing to shift your company’s cultural mindset, these changes can be easily integrated into your business, eventually becoming second nature.
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Photo by Veronica Benavides on Unsplash
