Developing your unique selling point and value as a business often become the cornerstone of your competitive advantage and growth strategy.
Your competitive advantage is that what makes your business different from the rest. It is so important that Jack Welch, past chairman and CEO of General Electric said:
“If you don’t have competitive advantage, don’t compete.”
There are two types of competitive advantages:
- Cost advantage
- Differentiation advantage.
Cost advantage means you provide reasonable value at a lower price. This is achieved by continuous improvement of operational efficiencies and using economies of scale. The low-cost strategy requires a close watch on profit margins and monitoring your competition for price changes.
Your competitive advantage may be easier and more effectively achieved for long-term success, by differentiation. A business with a differentiation strategy can charge better prices with higher profit margins.
How to achieve value through a unique selling point in your business:
- Bend over backwards: Go out of your way to impress and assist your customers. Focus on their needs, making their experience a pleasant one.
- Be the best: Provide a unique or high-quality product or service.
- Be innovative and bold: Meet your customers’ needs in a new way. Strive to be the first to offer new products or services to attract them and keep them coming back.
- Specialise, specialise, specialise: Instead of aiming to meet the needs of an entire market, rather specialise in one aspect. Establish yourself as an expert in your field and carve out your own growth path for a niche market.
“Don’t try to be all things to all people. Concentrate on selling something unique that you know there is a need for, offer competitive pricing and good customer service.” – This is the advice of Lilian Vernon, a U.S. businesswoman whose company was the first women-found company to trade on the American Stock Exchange.
