many clones of the same woman, lined up in several rows | competitive differentiator
Marketing Strategy

When Your Competition Claims the Same Differentiator As You

Back in the day, before the internet, most small businesses only competed with other companies in town. Today, you’re competing with the entire world. It only takes a few minutes for your customers to compare your company to thousands of others in every time zone.

 

What will make you stand out among that kind of crowd?

 

You can’t expect to stay in business if you’re just like thousands of other companies. You’ve got to be different, or die.

 

Your point of difference doesn’t just keep you in business — it gives you the ability to price your services higher, gain more customers, and develop die-hard loyalists.

 

Differentiation can also carve out a niche that has little to no competition. Stake a claim in that market early, and you could be the undisputed leader for years.

Are You Different in All the Same Ways?

Okay, do me a quick favor. Open your website in a separate tab and skim through the homepage. Note all of the differentiators you see and tell me if you find anything that fits into these categories:

✔️ We’ve been around longer than the competition.
✔️ We’re more cost-effective than the other guys.
✔️ We’re more results-oriented.
✔️ We’re bigger/we have more resources.
✔️ Our partnerships set us apart.

 

Now go to three of your competitors’ websites and compare. My bet? You’re making the same claims they are: you’re more experienced, bigger, better, or cheaper.

 

You may be a snowflake, but you’re stuck in a blizzard.

 

You’ll have a hard time standing out from the competition if you do it the same way everyone else does it. Believe it or not, most B2B companies try to differentiate themselves the same way everyone else does it.

 

To paraphrase The Incredibles, when everyone makes the same claims to be different, no one is.

A Different Kind of Difference

Your challenge is to find the actual point of difference that NO ONE else in your industry can claim. What is it that you, and you alone, provide to your customers that sets you apart in their eyes?

 

That’s the key: what sets you apart in your customer’s eyes? You see your business through a certain lens. Often, your customers see it in a much different light. It’s their perception of your business that matters, not yours.

 

The other key (there are two keys) is that your point of difference must be something that none of your competitors can claim. It’s unique to you alone.

 

Okay, one more key thing. Your differentiator is something that’s important to your customers. It might be an unspoken priority, and it might have very little to do with the actual product or service they’re paying for. But it’s important enough to sway their buying decision.

 

You might be surprised why customers choose to do business with you. While you’re busy promoting your depth of expertise, your customers are more impressed by your quick onboarding process.

 

Or, they’re delighted by the follow-up call you made after your first milestone delivery.

 

Or, you keep surprising them by doing everything you promise.

 

These are priorities for your customers, and no one else in your industry does them — but you do. Bam. That’s how you’re different from the competition.

 

Want some great examples? You got it:

 

  • Giraffe Design Build is founded on a commitment to responsible design and construction. They see themselves as “stewards of your home and the broader environment.”
  • Michigan Realty is all about showing the world why Michiganders love living in Michigan.
  • Dynamic Closures designs custom security doors and grilles to be a fortress of protection, without looking like one.
  • Clinc AI helps banks connect on a human level with AI that understands how people really talk.

 

See the points of difference? These companies stand out from everyone else in their competition in various ways. And none of them are based on being first, bigger, better, or cheaper.

 

Take the first step towards seeing real results from your B2B marketing.

Finding Your Brand’s Competitive Difference

Okay, but what if you have absolutely no idea what it is that sets you apart in your customers’ eyes? That special thing is just the air you breathe, the sea you swim in. Whatever your point of difference, you don’t even think about it — or, if you do, it seems insignificant to you.

 

There’s one way to find out what sets you apart from the competition in your customers’ eyes. Ask ‘em.

 

Don’t just send out an email with a multiple choice questionnaire. Talk with them one-on-one. Interview several customers across a broad spectrum. Talk to past and current customers, one-time buyers, and repeat customers.

 

Here’s a typical set of questions I ask my clients’ customers when researching their points of difference:

 

  1. What problems were you dealing with before hiring us?
  2. Why did you choose us in the first place?
  3. Why do you stay with us?
  4. What comes to mind when you think of our company?
  5. What surprised you (in a good way) when we started doing business together?
  6. What do we do that no one else does?
  7. Do you refer us to others? If so, what do you say?

 

Don’t just accept their initial answers and move on to the next question. Dig deeper and ask follow-up questions. Find out what lies behind their answers. That’s where the real gold is.

 

Conduct five to seven interviews, then look for common themes among them. Also notice comments or themes that come up multiple times in the same call. What seems to animate your customers most?

 

Finally, what comments or themes animate YOU most? Is there an A-ha! moment that you feel in your gut? Does something turn on a lightbulb? That’s where your big discovery lies.

 

You might need to do some refining and polishing, but chances are, you’ve found your core differentiator that makes you stand out from the competition.

Communicate Your Competitive Differentiator

Okay, so what do you do with that core differentiator? Use it as the basis of your brand message. In the Duct Tape Marketing system, we call this your core message.

 

Think of your core message as a “talking logo” — the verbal representation of who you are and what you’re all about. It should be short, emotionally compelling, and something only your company can claim.

 

To hit that target, you’ll probably need to write and rewrite your core message. Sit with it for a while, then come back to it after a couple days. Share it with stakeholders within the company and partners who know you well. It could take several rounds, but that’s okay — it’s worth it.

 

Here are some fantastic core messages:

 

 

Did you notice that most of these core messages don’t say anything about what the company does or sells? That’s because they don’t do or sell anything truly unique — it’s the way they do it that stands out.

 

Once you’ve found that gem of a core message, it’s time to make good use of it. Your core message should be the thing that your customers think of when they hear your name.

 

  • Make it prominent on your home page.
  • Use it as a tagline on your email signatures.
  • Add it to your social media profiles.
  • Include it on your business cards.
  • Paint it on your office walls
  • Whatever your hand finds to do!

 

Any time you have the opportunity to make a statement about your company, use your core message.

Be Different

While I was researching brands for this article, I went through dozens of websites that all had the same kind of messaging. It wasn’t long before they all started blending together. Only a few rare gems stood out as truly offering something different from other companies.

 

Don’t settle for the easy formula — we’re smarter, older, faster, cheaper, or more experienced than the other guys. Everybody says that, and that’s exactly what makes them all the same, not different.

 

Instead, take the time to do the hard work of discovering what really makes you different from the competition. And fly that flag as high as you can! Your audience will notice, and they’ll be drawn to you, because you have something different to offer.