It’s the Key to Rising Above the Competition
For over four decades, I’ve collaborated with some truly amazing leaders—inspiring people who’ve dared to discover the uniqueness of their brands and products. On the opposite end of the spectrum, I’ve seen others devalue their differentiation by lowering their prices in the hopes of grabbing a larger share of the proverbial pie. It’s a move that inevitably lowers product quality, reduces employee pride and retention, and devalues the brand. Even with over 500,000 brands in the world, yours doesn’t have to be the lowest priced or the very best to succeed. Instead, it’s crucial to discover your brand’s differentiation and celebrate it. I share stories of leaders and their journeys to separate from and rise above the competition in my new book, The Power of Differentiation, available June 25 on Amazon and Kindle. Read on for a few excerpts that I hope will inspire your own journey to identify the unique, sometimes hidden, advantages your brand offers.
Refuse to be a Commodity
Your role as leader is to transform your company from being “just another product or service” to being “in demand.” When you’re in demand, you act with confidence. If you’re just “another” product, you’ll display a low self-image and act with desperation—and as we know, desperate people (and the brands they lead) make desperate decisions. They lower prices, eliminate unique (but costly) product features and imitate their competitors. As they do all this, their product quality plummets. Why would anyone, including your leadership team, employees, suppliers or sales network, be inspired to give their best to ensure the highest product or service quality to a brand that is soulless, rudderless and in a “race to the bottom” in pricing? Your competitors want you to act and think like this. Disappoint them! Procurement professionals beat up suppliers in the creative and service sectors just like they do their component and materials providers. It’s all the same in their eyes. And they hope you eventually move over to their side. Don’t buy into this.
Name It and Own It
Once you identify a unique product or system, name it, give it meaning and honor it. Tell its story. Realize that your customers don’t have the interest or energy to wade through internet searches to learn what makes you different. Make it as easy as possible. Make it fun and interesting. Name it.
Live the Brand
Do you “live” the brand and associate with the customer? A few, very amazing companies overflow with people who not only represent the brand but are also customers and ambassadors of it. Their leaders and employees love the product, experiment with it and hang
out with customers. If your company produces snowmobiles, does your team ride them as well? Or, on the opposite end of the spectrum, do you manufacture a “value” offering, yet top executives personally own a competitor’s premium brand instead? If so, analyze the message being sent, because others are watching to see if you really believe.
Communicate and Celebrate
After identifying your differentiation and launching new branding, you must continue to strike up the band by celebrating what makes you who you are. People need to be constantly reminded of and inspired by what your brand represents. Your employees’ lives are filled with noise that warns them of impending danger that they have no power over—worldwide upheaval, politics, pandemics and conspiracy theories. One of the few areas of control and power they have is in choosing where they work and how much they care about the job they do.
Deliver a Consistent Experience
Excellent brands and their leaders embrace the beauty and the value of a consistent, authentic customer experience. The entire enterprise, including employees, sales channel and suppliers, must “live it” and embody it daily. A positive, powerful experience gives you one more chance to overcome any issues that might arise at some point.
Great leaders take their brands on a journey of differentiation. They refuse to commoditize their products and services in the hopes of gaining quick wins. The leaders I’ve worked with who’ve embarked on this mission have told me it’s been one of the most rewarding experiences of their careers. They discover their brand’s uniqueness and celebrate it, first with employees and then with the world. It’s an inspiring, significant shift in a company’s strategic direction and culture. For real-world, uplifting stories of differentiation, I invite you to read my book The Power of Differentiation and listen to my podcast, Difference Talks, on Apple, Spotify and YouTube.