Your business, my business, every business attempts to be better in some way than its competitors and then use this “better” thing (known in marketing circles as differentiation) as the keystone of its marketing strategy. I can cite an endless number of examples of differentiation strategies from Wal-Mart’s low price strategy to Tiffany’s high price exclusivity and from Fed Ex’s fast, accurate delivery to the “Make it your way” sandwich at Burger King. Having a differentiation strategy is important but there is more to communicate and it is important.

This critical element is “The Benefit.”

Your customers and prospects are primarily interested in your answer to just one question – “What’s the Benefit?” or stated another way, “What’s In It For Me?” When you give them a meaningful answer to that question they will understand good reasons for being your customer.

For it to be effective, the benefit has to be understood by the targeted consumer and that means that you have to show them and tell them in a way that they can understand. It means that your language must be clear, not industry lingo. It must be stated simply in short memorable sentences, not in long arcane technical paragraphs. And the information must be available and accessible across many different methods of communication – when spoken, when read, when seen in print or transmitted electronically.

It is good that a product is more durable and lasts longer (that’s a feature) but what is the benefit of it lasting longer? Perhaps it is lower maintenance costs or less down time / higher productivity or lower cost per use or more enjoyment as a point of differentiation. I believe it was Beech-Nut Gum that used “longer lasting taste” (“I’m not talking while the flavor lasts”) as their point of differentiation?).

There are many possible benefits from every “better” innovation and differentiation. It is your challenge is to discover what those benefits are and how best to communicate them constantly and frequently so that your customers and prospects understand “What’s In It For Them” and why they should buy it… from you!

Larry Galler coaches and consults with high-performance executives, professionals, and small businesses since 1993. He is the writer of the long-running (every Sunday since November 2001) business column, “Front Lines with Larry Galler” For a free coaching session, email Larry for an appointment – Larry@larrygaller.com. Sign up for his free newsletter at http://www.larrygaller.com

There’s an old marketing saying; “To live by price, is to die by price.”

Quite simply, this means; if you’re relying solely on discounting to be your strategy to attract customers, then it’ll usually mean the ‘death’ of your business – sooner or later.

In business, there will nearly always be someone ‘smarter’ than you, who can make or access your product cheaper than you can… or someone ‘dumber’ than you, who doesn’t know their margins, and will sell the same product for less than you.

You need to compete on more levels than ‘price’ alone, to succeed and prosper long-term. You see, people by their very nature are simple. And they make simple decisions. ALL buying decisions are based on one factor… and it’s NOT price.

It’s VALUE!

The decisions your prospective customers and clients are making is simply… where am I getting the best VALUE? And they vote with their wallets. They spend their money where they perceive they’re getting the best value.

If you lose a sale to a competitor, it’s simply because the customer believed this particular competitor offered them better value for their money. And that does NOT mean the cheapest product or service.

Far too often, I hear business owners argue that they need to discount and compete on price… when it quite frankly isn’t true. They need to demonstrate more value. If you can demonstrate enough value, the price becomes less important.

To prove this, look no further than your own lifestyle…

Do you live in the cheapest house?
Are you driving the cheapest car on the market?
What about your clothes, did you buy them from the local ‘second-hand shop’?
How about your furniture, jewellery, cosmetics, sporting equipment, etc.

Rarely do you buy solely on price alone. That’s not to say you buy the most expensive either. Like everyone else on this planet, you base your buying-decisions on VALUE. Generally, you’re prepared to pay a little more if the extra features/benefits are important enough to you.

A point to remember here is, not all people value the same things. A tradesman buying a utility for work is going to have very different priorities to the customer purchasing their new Ferrari 350 sports car, or the father buying a new station wagon for his family. Someone walking into a fast food franchise is looking for a very different ‘dining experience’ to someone going to an upmarket exclusive restaurant.

Which one is right? They both are. It’s not a matter of ‘right or wrong’. They simply place emphasis of different priorities. The fast food customer may want speed of service. The fine diner may want a relaxed meal in pleasant surroundings with exceptional service… and is willing to pay extra for that experience.

So in summary…

First know your target market. Know what’s most important to them when investing in your type of product and/or service.

Secondly, know yourself and your business, and what you’re naturally best at.

And thirdly, look for the ‘common ground’ between what you’re best at and what your ideal target market most want. Then focus your marketing on clearly communicating your ‘value proposition’ (how your business specifically addresses the key needs and wants of your ideal target market).

Chances are, you’ll never please everybody (nor should you). But if your ideal target market falls in love with your business and what you do for them… you’ll have more business flowing your way than you can handle.

And that will be a nice problem to have, don’t you think?

For more information, contact Craig Wyld, Managing Director of The Profit Doctor. The Profit Doctor is Australia’s leading marketing consultancy that specialise in effective marketing strategies to increase your sales and profits – and they GUARANTEE you results (in writing)!

For more HEAPS of FREE marketing tips, strategies, ideas and YouTube Videos, visit http://www.profitdoctor.com.au

At least 80% of businesses never make a substantial profit online. The remaining 20% are taking all of the income and unfortunately most of the latter are simply not aware of the simple methods needed to ramp up their marketing efforts. They spend thousands of dollars creating prettier websites, adding more professional graphics to their videos and redesigning logos, but they never realize the secrets to gaining more traffic and leads.

You can run the best looking website and the greatest business in the world, but if you are not targeting the right people with your services, your company will not go anywhere. You must research your target audience and know what makes them tick. Who are they? What are their burning questions? What are their problems? The answers to these questions are like gold to your campaign because they will give you a direction and an audience to sell your services.

I wish I could tell you there are super secret ways to determine who you are targeting, but it really comes down to brain power. If you are selling pink shoes, what is the first thing that comes to mind? Maybe young girls or teenagers or a specific age range? A professional, fun woman or maybe a mother of girls? You can also type in your main keyword in Google and look at your competitors. Research their website and enter their URL into a demographic tool such as quantcast.com. This will give you a better idea as to who they are targeting and give you a more detailed look at your demographic. Don’t get stuck in competitor data, though. Think outside of the box and see if you can target others who would be interested in your business.

Once you determine who your prospects are, you must put yourself in their minds. Think about what qualities they would look for in services. As you are going through this process, visit your website and other web real estate and imagine you were them. Does your offering solve their problems? Is your website and content offer answers to their questions?

The more you can solve the problems of your target audience, the greater chance you will gain customers for life. The same old website design just will not do. There are too many copycats on the web and people are looking for authenticity and a real answer to their issues. Focus more of your time on this effort and you will see a great increase in your business over time.

In my ongoing quest to provide even more value for my clients, one of the series I’ve been developing with them is “How to Be the #1 Expert in Your Niche.” This is a critical area, because being the #1 expert in your industry offers a lot of value. There are several reasons for this.

To start, nobody remembers #2, #3, or #4. So if you aren’t #1, people won’t pay attention. And if they aren’t paying attention, they aren’t investing in your highest level programs and services. People can’t spend with you if they don’t know of you. You must enter your target market with a clear goal of positioning yourself as the #1 leader in your industry. If your industry is very crowded, or competitive, you might need to create a new market space that belongs only to you.

This can be done by a specific combination of steps: focusing your on greatest sources of knowledge, as well as creating a unique system for turning this knowledge into results for those you work with. This is the first, and most crucial step, towards #1 status in your industry.

One more good reason it is crucial to be #1 is that people will help you, motivate you, and support you to the level that they see you showing up. Consider an analogy in sports. If you have a favorite sports team, don’t you feel more motivated, excited, and interested when it’s clear that your team is playing a high level, and is showing up and giving their best? Contrast that to a lack-luster game, where they seem tired, out of sorts, or keep missing easy plays. Your interest and enthusiasm for them wanes, even just a little bit, doesn’t it?

It’s exactly the same in your business. If your joint venture partners, clients, and support teams see you stepping out in a big way, playing a bold game, and giving your best- they will all be inspired and motivated to support you more. People are attracted to clarity and focus and confidence. This is what positioning yourself as #1 gives you: more clarity, more focus, more confidence.

If you’ve been in business for any length of time, and still find yourself feeling like you’re just like everyone else in your niche area, you must do these three things right now:

1) Decide if you are truly ready and willing to play big
2) Determine how you need to show up if you are willing to play big
3) Step up your clarity, focus, and confidence and actually start making things happen