Why does one person get a job over another? Why do customers or clients choose one company over another? What makes an organization successful?
QUITE SIMPLY … It’s because they do things better than their competition and/or they provide better value … it’s their competitive advantages that make the difference, make them special, and their ability to successfully and consistently deliver that value.
BUILDING ON COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGES … people need to know about your competitive advantages and what makes you different. Having competitive advantages that no one knows about is almost worse than not having any advantages. You must find ways to stand out. Being motivated to create a plan and achieve success is part of it. Being reliable, showing up on time, constantly demonstrating your work ethic and that of your team is equally important, and being dependable, always providing exceptional value, and doing your best work every time for every person is key.
I know what some people are thinking … “What about luck?” Often people make the excuse that successful people and organizations are just lucky, they were in the right place at the right time and didn’t have to do anything and success just fell in their lap. Luck does play a part; however, successful people and organizations have to be prepared and ready to capitalize when “luck” happens, which is the result of their competitive advantages.
PERSONAL COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGES
One of my mentors once told me that at a personal level, everything comes down to your “Attitude, Behavior, and Skills.” Your attitude and willingness to be “open-minded,” to adapt and embrace change, to avoid being defensive; to learn and to unlearn are a great place to begin to build your competitive advantages.
Do you have a healthy attitude towards life, work, other people, and yourself? It might seem simplistic to say this, but you can likely think of many people who do not have a positive outlook. They complain about everything, they are the people who “Suck the energy from the room,” in general, these people do not succeed as well as people who are able to adapt, improvise, and overcome negative situations.
As an example, consider these three simple things you can do to improve yourself and make this a competitive advantage: (1) Try to make three people feel better about themselves every day. What is key about this is, to do this successfully you have to be sincere, and you have to notice what other people are doing, how they are acting, and how they are different from one day to the next. (2) Count the number of times you say thank you each day, and don’t be satisfied until you say it at least 25 times a day. Two simple words used frequently to show appreciation and respect can make an immediate difference in your world and cost you very little. (3) The next time you find yourself about to complain about something, stop, think, and ask yourself: “Is this making anything better or is it making it worse?” and then only proceed if it’s helping your situation or that of the people around you.
Does your behavior help or hinder your life, your job, or what you are trying to accomplish? Often we overlook the obvious cause/effect things that result from your behavior. The best way to make this point is with an example: Many Zoom meetings have a round table portion about “What is new” for each person. Some people only answer superficially and give a forgettable answer. If you want to communicate that you are different and/or special, take a few minutes, prepare, and provide a topic that is of interest or useful to the group … you will be amazed at the difference. Similarly, in a job interview, when asked questions, ensure that your answers provide skills and experiences that address what the employer’s needs are rather than simply topics that are of interest to you.
What unique skills and experience do you bring to your workplace or your career? If you wish to stand out, ensure that customers/clients, supervisors and managers, and interviewers are aware of the skills and transferable skills you have. Additionally, what are you continuing to do to build your skills and experiences? Think about the people in your field or the organizations competing with you and ask yourself: (1) What do they do well that you can learn about and add to your abilities. (2) What do you and your team do better; so that you can use those differences to stand out. (3) How do you become better, What can you do differently? How do you improve the value for your clients, customers, managers, and supervisors, the people you work with and for, and yourself?
HOW DO YOU INFORM PEOPLE?
Having competitive advantages that no one is aware of is a major problem regardless of the environment. (1) For those of us looking for work, having a tailored cover letter based on the skills the employer is seeking with an equally tailored resume is a great start. Ensuring you prepare and practice interview questions and follow-up will help you to stand out from the crowd. (2) Finding creative and innovative ways to showcase your skills, products, and services and how they will add value to your intended audience. (3) Using social media and tools like LinkedIn are useful tools for informing people. (4) Using testimonials and references such as Google Reviews works. (5) Demonstrating your skills, attitudes, and experiences by showing how you can and could provide value transcends informing to competitive advantages.
HOW DOES AN ORGANIZATION INFORM PEOPLE
Tell them – simple social media posts, for example: “Did you know that … We give you a free car wash with every service,” like what a local repair shop offers. Traditional media, such as signs and advertising. Encouraging Google reviews from clients. Training your people on how to present your products and services; sales ability is a learned skill; it needs to be nurtured and honed constantly. Simply do not allow ANY CUSTOMER to walk away from you or your organization without being satisfied. Regardless of the size of your community, “word of mouth” advertising and repeat business is the cornerstone of your ability to win people and loyalty.
WHY WOULD ANYONE CHOOSE YOU OR YOUR ORGANIZATION?
For anyone, whether a client or customer, to choose you, there must be a reason. Remember that people have 5 principle motivations for selecting a person, and purchasing products or services (5 Customer Motivations – step 2 qualifying). You need to ask the right questions, provide the right answers, and then follow through and deliver on your promises.
(1) Security – Essentially you need to prove to your customer or client, manager or supervisor/co-worker, or anyone else; that their investment in you or your organization will give them better value than they will receive anywhere else. Trust and integrity are everything.
(2) Utility – The people you choose to target must be aware of you, the products or services you offer, and your timing is of key importance. When they go to market, you must be top of mind. Additionally, people want answers and solutions according to their timelines, not yours. Loyalty and preference only exist if you constantly provide timely answers and value regardless of the situation.
(3) Prestige – If you or your organization offers the “newest” or “the best” of anything, this will apply to those who live by this motivation. If you can recognize, appreciate, and appeal to this motivation, you will have a competitive advantage over others who do not tailor what they offer accordingly.
(4) Pleasure – People choose people they like, and too often we can forget everything we do is for people ultimately. Listening, having empathy, considering other perspectives, and trying to satisfy other people’s wants and needs will ultimately make you more successful than people who approach everyone the same way. For some products or services, this might seem not to make as much difference as the other motivations, but my challenge to you is to find ways to touch this. For a charity competing for donations, letting and showing a prospective donor know how their money makes an impact is more important to them than any other approach.
(5) Savings – Everyone likes to save; it could be money, time, and/or the environment. For example, too many salespeople make the mistake of only advertising low-end price points when in fact, they are missing the point that it isn’t a particular price point that matters; it is the savings that do.
Bonus – Ensure your potential audience is aware of everything you or your organization can offer. The owner of a successful local repair shop lists all of the services that he offers to his clients in his waiting area, as he knows not everyone is aware of the breadth of services and models he supports. He is proud of those competitive advantages; he also has the same list posted in his staff area to remind his people of the things that make his company special. You should never assume that either your customers or associates are aware of all of your competitive advantages.*
Ultimately, what makes a person or organization successful. It is their individual or collective competitive advantage. Success is having a plan and being able to execute the awareness among the people they wish to interact with of those advantages. Success is preparation, awareness, and self-awareness, and offering better value. The marketplace for employment, personal services, products, and everything else is a constantly shifting and evolving entity that you cannot expect to remain static.
Good luck,
Paul.