Why Should They Spend Their Money With You?
I’ve been fortunate to have led, owned, or worked with businesses that have had tremendous success, and I have a childlike curiosity to understand why things are the way they are.
So, when it comes to understanding why certain businesses are thriving and their counterparts are not, it’s become a lifelong mission for me.
There’s ONE thing that’s common to them all…
This one thing makes selling their product or service easier, makes charging a higher price easier, makes getting their brand out there more accessible, makes finding better staff easier, and keeps customers buying easier.
That one thing is…
To differentiate what they do from their competition.
Sounds obvious, right?
But can you honestly answer this:
“Why should someone buy my product or service from me, rather than from my competitor?”.
If you look at any business and compare them to their competitors, 95% of them are the same — just a different logo.
They’re selling the same stuff at the same price to the same audience while claiming they care more and that their service is better, or that they are more trustworthy.
This mindset means these businesses will struggle.
The market will always find its level, so if you’re the fifth window cleaner in your locality and do the same as all the other window cleaners, you’ll get a slice of the total available market. That might be enough to keep you from the poverty line, but it won’t deliver your dreams, and most of the time, it will be a struggle.
The biggest differentiator most business owners will drive is PRICE.
Now imagine somebody contacts you and asks why they should use you instead of the other four window cleaners. You MUST have a compelling answer because if you don’t, why should they spend their money with you?
When you answer this question – you create a Blue Ocean* – an uncontested market space or industry where there’s little to no competition. 3% of the total available market is currently looking, and this is the market everyone is fighting for, which creates a Red Ocean, cutthroat, crowded, and small margins.
So how do you create a Blue Ocean for your product or service?
1) Understand your current market and all its pain points – the specific problems, challenges, or frustrations that customers experience.
2) Explore new ideas and ways to eliminate, raise, reduce, or create innovations to those pain points in exciting and unique ways.
3) Shift your focus to non-customers (not the 3%) and explore their needs and preferences (these are the soon-to-be market, the refusing market, and the unexplored market).
If you do nothing else this week, please answer this question:
Why should anybody spend money on my business rather than my competitor?
The answers will change not only your business but also your life.
Or you can carry on fighting in your Red Ocean.
It’s your choice…
BW,
Martin
Martin Norbury
Investor | Business Mentor at Advocate | Author of I don’t work Fridays
