Photo: Bart/flickr, modified

Have you ever sat in a restaurant and the waiter serves everyone else before he gets around to serving you? Do you feel like you must be wearing Harry Potter’s invisibility cloak?

Sometimes in business we feel the same way. Customers are buying from our competitors but not us. Are we invisible? We have the same products and great service so why aren’t they buying from us? It can be frustrating and will affect your bottom line. So how do you get people to notice you?

Stop and ask yourself – why should customers buy yours instead of the others?

We could have titled this blog Why Differentiation is Important. But you probably wouldn’t have bothered reading it right? It’s the point of differentiation that sets suppliers apart that makes customers notice you.

So let’s ask the question: How does your business differ from other companies supplying a similar product or service? Because of an overwhelming variety of products and services available in your market space, those that stand out in some manner are better noticed than those that don’t. The catch is that the proposition must offer your potential customers a specific benefit that they see as attractive.

“Differentiation” is the generic term to how a supplier’s products and services differ from its competitors. “Points of difference” or PODs describe the individual factors of differentiation – also known as its “unique selling proposition”.

The unique selling proposition can be defined as – what makes your business unique? A business can peg its USP on product characteristics, price structure, placement strategy (location and distribution) or promotional strategy. These are what marketers call the “four P’s” of marketing. They are manipulated to give a business a market position that sets it apart from the competition.

Every company will have its own points of difference. Clearly identify yours, build them into your marketing strategy then take your USP to the market and see if your company remains invisible.

A-ZGovBIZ is a leading supplier of direct marketing lists and delivery solutions. We can be contacted at sales@azgovbiz.com.au or phone 02 95164703 for free advice and a quote.

Michael Bleakley

Michael Bleakley is a journalist, communicator and marketing professional of 25 years. His career began in his early 20’s publishing tech magazines for education. Michael’s career then moved into online and book publishing for a global business publisher, then finally into database publishing and marketing at A-ZGovBIZ.