How to reinvent yourself to stand out from the competition

How do you differentiate your service business from those of your rivals? If you operate in a competitive market selling much the same services as everyone else consider these options:

• Either offer, or at least appear to offer, better services than your competitors. This may be measured either by the price or quality of your services.
• Or, offer different services from your competition. This may mean carefully considering how you work, and how you can adapt your business to offer something that is valuable and unique.

Innovate continually. Aim to review and improve your own techniques periodically. This will keep your approach fresh.

Rather than finding a market to fit your product, turn the problem on its head. So find what your customers need, and then find solutions to those problems.

How do you make this happen? Talk to existing customers. Ring around and conduct a rough survey of current major issues they face. This will give you a starting point around which you can construct new ideas. Do this regularly and you will build up an ever-growing pool of new ideas. You will also stay at the cutting edge of your industry because you will be tackling current problems.

Talk to experts in other fields and find what they see as people's main problems. For example, an office furniture consultant once told a time management training consultancy that the two things most people wanted in an office were bigger desks and more space to put everything. Realistically, this is often an impractical wish.

However, here was a clue for a new product for the time management trainer. The time management experts designed a course to teach their clients to manage their space and paperwork more effectively and so gain valuable extra hours a day.

Personalise your service

Treat each client as an individual. If you give the same advice to all your customers, it is time to rethink your approach. Every company or industry thinks it is - or its needs are - unique. Usually, however, they are variations on a theme. So even if you have seen the same problem many times before, try to adjust your standard solution a little to make it seem unique. Then your client will believe that you specialise in their industry - and specialists are always in demand.

Pitch your sales to different industries with different headings to enhance this specialist feel. For example: 'Alarm systems for offices', 'Negotiating skills for chemical engineers', or 'Time management for accountants'.

Catch their attention

When selling your services to prospects, a picture is worth a thousand words. So if you are selling accountancy services, say, 'demonstrate' your service and the benefits you offer.

First think about what your customers want from you. Issues might include help with budgeting, minimal dealings with the taxman, cutting bank charges and so on. Then prepare a specimen set of year-end accounts, printed in double the usual size, and annotate these making clear all the benefits you offer. Put these in a binder so you can talk through - and show prospects - the advantages of working with you.

Fire people's imaginations. Demonstrate graphically how much you will change people's lives. For example, you can make a dramatic point in a sales presentation by tearing up a tenner to demonstrate how much money the prospect is wasting every ten seconds, or whatever.

Add-ons

Offer extra services at an increased price. Provided that you do indeed deliver 'that bit extra', then it will do you credit, as well as making you a bit more profit.

Fast food chains do it all the time: 'Do you want to make that a large fries?' Do we feel cheated because of that extra outlay? Not at all! So offer clients a 'no-frills' service or package, and an enhanced service for a bit extra. This might consist of one-to-one consultancies or tutorials, or a subscription to your fact-filled newsletter.

Liven up talks

If you have to present lectures, then make yours different. Make them interactive and liven things up. Run through real-life scenarios explaining how to handle problems as they arise. For example, if you're teaching better sales techniques, make live calls to their customers to showcase your suggestions.

Set delegates a scenario or problem, or ask for the best disaster anecdote at the beginning of the day, and offer a small prize to the winner. The delegates get to process the information you've been giving them, and you get a new idea to help your next clients.

Let your imagination fly and you will soon devise ways to set your business apart from those of your competitors.

About This Article
This article was first published by Better Business magazine, which offers practical proven ideas to help owner-managers transform their business, and have more fun doing it. Find out more at Better Business.