Branding and setting ourselves apart

Written on June 4, 2010 – 9:53 am | by Michael Harris

In all areas of our lives we look to be unique individuals. We want to customize everything from our clothing and car to our cell phones and office walls so people know we are an individual, and not just a clone in a massive system.

We do this eagerly in all areas except one.

In this one area, I’ve noticed we either don’t recognize the need to separate ourselves, or we are afraid to stand out from the crowd. This one area is our business.

I’ve had multiple meetings over the past few months with entrepreneurs in all stages of development, from concept to growth and expansion, where they are considering entering into a market that is already filled with a number of competitors. The one question they have each, to a degree, stumbled over is how they will differentiate themselves from their competition. To simply answer, “because I’ll do it better” doesn’t count as a qualified answer.

Answering how you’ll do it better and to what degree it will be better is what needs to be addressed.

If we all sell corn, why should customers buy my corn over yours? Doesn’t all corn taste the same? If the customer can’t determine what’s different between my corn and yours, the only thing they’ll care about is price, which is a tough place for a small business to win a competition. However, telling the competition why your corn is better, i.e. it’s grown locally, organically and is hand-picked may convince your customer that price is not the most important thing when making a decision.

Here are a few suggestions for questions to ask yourself about your business:

1. What are the strengths in your business, and how can you make them more obvious to your market? In a meeting at my office a few months ago, we pondered this question and realized one of our biggest strengths was that we were encouraging and positive with our clients. We wanted to amplify this strength, and decided to incorporate the idea of being “the adventure guide for your small business” into everything we do. The reason this works for us is that it wouldn’t make sense for your adventure guide to discourage you from taking the next step as long as the risk was accounted for. Rather, you want an adventure guide to cheer you on and encourage your every step. When you identify your strengths, it becomes easier to communicate them to your market.

2. What are your unique skill sets? As a child, I remember asking my relatives what I should be when I grew up. They responded by asking me what I thought my talents were. At the age of eight, the only talents I knew about were sports, video games, math and English, in which I didn’t see many career opportunities, so I struggled to see what skills I had that would make me good at what I do today.

There is a base level of knowledge that everyone in your industry possesses. I guarantee that every plumber in the country knows how to cut pipe and solder it together. Those skills are not unique. On the other hand, a plumber who can keep their pants from sagging, exposing the world behind them to their crack is unique. Obviously that’s a pretty trivial skill set, but I hope it communicates the idea of identifying something out of the ordinary that you can present to your customers.

3. Are you award-winning? Cindy Senger at Senger Design Group has won multiple awards for their interior design. I love the fact that when she talks to her prospective clients she is able to show them examples of the work her company has done that has been recognized with awards. In her networking group, Cindy is often introduced as “The award winning Cindy Senger”. While those introducing her have an extreme level of familiarity with her, and tease her out of respect and perhaps even a hint of jealousy, the point is very clear. Award winning has a definite ring to it and is quite memorable. If you have any claim to fame such as an award, it is a great thing to feature. If you don’t, look for ways to win awards.

If you fail to address these questions, you will have positioned yourself perfectly for failure, which I’m sure is not your intention. I encourage you to search the soul of your business and spend some time determining what differentiates you from others. Not just with regards to the questions above, but in every area.

Without setting yourself apart, your product or service becomes a commodity.

The danger with becoming a commodity is that you are always at risk of being beaten on the only thing that matters to a commodity – price.

Matt Barrett is the director of the UCCS Small Business Development Center. Send small business questions to him at matthew.barrett@uccs.edu.

Perfect Business!