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Casual Articles - Find What Distinguishes You From Your Competitors
Most Starbucks Groupies or customers love the service and the coffee at Starbucks. Perhaps they are addicted to the caffeine and simply like to go to a coffee shop, which remembers their name. Recently I asked one of their customers to describe Starbucks Customer Service in one word. She said; Stellar. Wow! I thought what an endorsement; quick sign her up for the next Starbucks Commercial on TV.Of course Howard Schultz would be very proud of that too, but might have preferred she use the words; Legendary Service, which is Starbucks new motto these days. In fact did you know that Starbucks employees are to greet each customer by name if they are local and greet them within 30-seconds of walking in the front door? It is true and they are actually
11. What emotional needs/desires does your product meet?
12. What physical needs/desires does your product meet?
13. Does your product sell better at different times of the year? And if so, why?
14. Are any of your competitors local? If so, where are they?
15. What is the size of your competitor’s business?
16. Where is this competitor marketing? Find their ads, always keep them in your file.
17. What age and gender are they marketing to? Is the same as yours?
18. What inc
Frequently clients will ask me, “How can you write effective sales letters so FAST?”One of my clients even shared with me how much time he was spending, hunched over his keyboard, trying to create the “perfect” winning sales letter.A long time ago, my personal mentor and good trusted friend told me a secret that I have used ever since to write sales letters and any other type of business (or personal) letter. I shared this tip with my client and he's spending much less time agonizing over his sales letters now.The “secret” is a little copywriting trick known by the acronym: AIDA. No, I'm not talking about some Italian opera - AIDA stands for: Attention, Interest, Desire and Action, the 4 components every good le
After using the USP method to uncover the uniqueness of my products and services, I continued to find them difficult to name. Because of this, I developed a list of 50 easy-to- answer questions to help me get through the process quickly. [Please allow product and service to mean the same thing for simplicity sake in this article.
First, select an equal playing competitor. If not equal, choose one that is as closely matched as possible. Even if you are selling apples, be careful on the choice of characteristics. A Granny Smith apple is different from a Winesap apple. Both are consumed by similar markets but they have much different uses in cooking. Be mindfully open, somewhere there is a similar apple -- guaranteed.
Second, gather all their product information. Lay the material before you, make a list of the features and benefits. Read and compared line-by-line if needed. I like to use the abbreviation’s S and D (similar/different). If you didn’t come up with anything or your list is small, that is okay, this happens to me a lot. Your mind isn’t seeing them. The questions below will build on your list and expand your view.
If you offer a new service, match target markets, and select one that is less than two years ahead of your success. If their product is too far ahead, you will suffer from "measurement stress". This will please your inner critic but test your passion and sabotage your commitment.
After you have completed whatever list you could do, use these questions to continue expanding:
1. Make a list of their product benefits?
2. What are the benefits your product offers?
3. Identify the features they have that you don't have?
4. Identify the features that you have? Compare.
5. What features are better in their product.
6. What features are better in yours?
7. Why are they better (from a buyers perspective)?
8. What is their price?
9. What is your price?
10. Why is your price different?
11. What emotional needs/desires does your product meet?
12. What physical needs/desires does your product meet?
13. Does your product sell better at different times of the year? And if so, why?
14. Are any of your competitors local? If so, where are they?
15. What is the size of your competitor’s business?
16. Where is this competitor marketing? Find their ads, always keep them in your file.
17. What age and gender are they marketing to? Is the same as yours?
18. What inc
Visibility is the first step in building a solid reputation. Consumers that see your name displayed somewhere are more likely to use your product than if they’d never heard of you. So step out, let your voice be heard, and display yourself for all to see.Becoming visible is something every business strives to do. Visibility is the principal idea behind advertising and promotion. By publicizing your name, more interest in your business will be generated, which can lead to more contacts that will equal more sales. The important thing is that when people see your name displayed they have a positive association with it. For small businesses this will probably be from third party endorsement, the most effective type of advertising.Third
Second, gather all their product information. Lay the material before you, make a list of the features and benefits. Read and compared line-by-line if needed. I like to use the abbreviation’s S and D (similar/different). If you didn’t come up with anything or your list is small, that is okay, this happens to me a lot. Your mind isn’t seeing them. The questions below will build on your list and expand your view.
If you offer a new service, match target markets, and select one that is less than two years ahead of your success. If their product is too far ahead, you will suffer from "measurement stress". This will please your inner critic but test your passion and sabotage your commitment.
After you have completed whatever list you could do, use these questions to continue expanding:
1. Make a list of their product benefits?
2. What are the benefits your product offers?
3. Identify the features they have that you don't have?
4. Identify the features that you have? Compare.
5. What features are better in their product.
6. What features are better in yours?
7. Why are they better (from a buyers perspective)?
8. What is their price?
9. What is your price?
10. Why is your price different?
11. What emotional needs/desires does your product meet?
12. What physical needs/desires does your product meet?
13. Does your product sell better at different times of the year? And if so, why?
14. Are any of your competitors local? If so, where are they?
15. What is the size of your competitor’s business?
16. Where is this competitor marketing? Find their ads, always keep them in your file.
17. What age and gender are they marketing to? Is the same as yours?
18. What inc
When hosted CRM was first introduced, concerns were voiced about its drawbacks: the lack of customization, integration with other applications, support, third party storage, control over data control and the performance of service reps - not to mention the all-important security issue. Hosting’s biggest drawback is that your most important data is in a third-party’s hands.Although CRM, as hosted solutions are also known, are not as difficult or as costly to install as packaged solutions, they still require an infrastructure, significant IT resources, and time to deploy.Application integration has been another challenge for ASPs. Since ASPs unilaterally update their code bases, this opens the possibility that an integrated business process
If you offer a new service, match target markets, and select one that is less than two years ahead of your success. If their product is too far ahead, you will suffer from "measurement stress". This will please your inner critic but test your passion and sabotage your commitment.
After you have completed whatever list you could do, use these questions to continue expanding:
1. Make a list of their product benefits?
2. What are the benefits your product offers?
3. Identify the features they have that you don't have?
4. Identify the features that you have? Compare.
5. What features are better in their product.
6. What features are better in yours?
7. Why are they better (from a buyers perspective)?
8. What is their price?
9. What is your price?
10. Why is your price different?
11. What emotional needs/desires does your product meet?
12. What physical needs/desires does your product meet?
13. Does your product sell better at different times of the year? And if so, why?
14. Are any of your competitors local? If so, where are they?
15. What is the size of your competitor’s business?
16. Where is this competitor marketing? Find their ads, always keep them in your file.
17. What age and gender are they marketing to? Is the same as yours?
18. What inc
Just a few short years ago, telecommuting was a rare benefit for a select few. Employers were reluctant to give up the belief that employees needed watching, and that working from home really meant a day of watching soap operas, devouring chocolates, and catching up on the laundry. The traditional 9-to-5 in the office was the accepted standard for assuring that employees were where they were supposed to be and doing what they were supposed to do. For most, proof of productivity was measured by hours in the office, rather than by results.However, with the help of laptops, PDAs, and high-speed internet, the practice of measuring productivity with time seems to be taking a few hits. More and more employers have begun to realize the benefits of tel
1. Make a list of their product benefits?
2. What are the benefits your product offers?
3. Identify the features they have that you don't have?
4. Identify the features that you have? Compare.
5. What features are better in their product.
6. What features are better in yours?
7. Why are they better (from a buyers perspective)?
8. What is their price?
9. What is your price?
10. Why is your price different?
11. What emotional needs/desires does your product meet?
12. What physical needs/desires does your product meet?
13. Does your product sell better at different times of the year? And if so, why?
14. Are any of your competitors local? If so, where are they?
15. What is the size of your competitor’s business?
16. Where is this competitor marketing? Find their ads, always keep them in your file.
17. What age and gender are they marketing to? Is the same as yours?
18. What inc
Have you ever wanted to be a spy? Do you want to make a difference in the world? Well now you can and earn money too! Customer satisfaction is so important to companies that they're actually willing to pay you to shop. Yes, that's right! You can go to the mall, buy things with somebody else's money, and get paid to buy things for yourself! All you have to do in return is report on your shopping satisfaction. And the best part is anything you buy you get to keep. Today you get paid to pick up some new shoes at a department store! Tomorrow you have dinner at your favorite restaurant followed by a movie all on the house!Mystery shopping is a dream job come true, but isn't hard to land such a great job? No, not really. In fact it is qu
11. What emotional needs/desires does your product meet?
12. What physical needs/desires does your product meet?
13. Does your product sell better at different times of the year? And if so, why?
14. Are any of your competitors local? If so, where are they?
15. What is the size of your competitor’s business?
16. Where is this competitor marketing? Find their ads, always keep them in your file.
17. What age and gender are they marketing to? Is the same as yours?
18. What income level are they marketing to? What are you marketing to?
19. What type of customer care do they offer? Research and find out.
20. What type of customer care are you going to offer? What’s different about your customer care or how can it be?
21. Do you offer a special type of advice that they don't? If so, what?
22. If you offer confidentiality, in what ways do you offer this?
23. How is your confidentiality different than your competitors? Or is it the same?
24. How fast does your competitor fulfill orders?
25. What type of answers do they have for their product? Do they offer a FAQ (frequently asked question page)?
26. How fast do they answer questions? Submit one and find out.
27. Do they offer a range of payment methods or are they limited? What will be yours?
28. What is their customer service policy? Write yours and know the difference.
29. How many ways can people contact them?
30. What are their "availability" hours?
31. Do they offer product discounts? What are their break points?
32. How do they ship? Is it fr*ee or discounted in some way?
33. Do they offer value-added incentives? This could be in the form of complimentary documentation or time, newsletters, or other items. What can you offer that is better?
34. Do they offer gifts? Are they special or common? What do customers have to purchase to get them?
35. Create a list of unique, customer valued gifts, that you might use make theirs eat dust?
36. What special skills do their employees offer? What are yours?
37. Does their staff have some special type of training? Do you or can you get?
38. What makes you excited about selling this product?
39. How long have they been in business? Where are they on the product maturity line? Where are you?
40. If you haven't been in business as long, can you explain your quick success?
41. What do customers say about them? What do yours say? Similar is good but unique statements help more.
42. What statistics do you have on your product that you can use to show your uniqueness?
43. D
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