What’s Your Competitive Advantage?
Does your company have a “difference”? What sets you apart from the competition? Are you in a category of your own? All of these questions should be asked and answered honestly so you don’t fall into the sea of sameness with all the other places your clients can get services from. Sit down with your team and genuinely dig into what sets you apart from others.
What used to be your company difference 5 years ago is very well status quo today. You might think you have a competitive edge, but do you really? At my landscape company, I recently sat down with my leadership team and they challenged me to set my company apart from the competition. After many hours of brainstorming and strategic planning, we decided to provide a 3 year plant material warranty to all our install clients, lawn edging is now included in all standard lawn cutting jobs, we include a free garden hose and lawn sprinkler in all our landscape plant install projects and all landscape designs are 100% free if we are awarded the installation of that design. Be careful to not confuse a promotion with a ‘difference’.
These items might seem like a very simple idea – and they are! Each provide value to our clients. At the same time, the motivation behind and the emphasis on these differences is what truly sets us apart. It’s finding that standard, culture, and continually cultivating it. We ARE better, we ARE worthy of being invited to improve our clients’ properties. It’s so much more than giving away a hose, it’s investing in our own work to provide a superior product that only we can provide.
It is important to point out your company “difference” so the client can make a educated decision. Set yourself apart both in the physical differences you can point out as well as what’s valued by the company. It’s also important to keep pushing yourself and those around you to better that difference. Don’t get stuck in the status quo. Use it as a benchmark to measure where you are now compared to where you are going and what your difference is.
What sets your company apart from the competition? Comment below please!
