What is your Distinctive Competence?

One of the major mistakes that small companies (and large ones) make when marketing their products and services is that they are too tempted to just provide a list of features. Sometimes a major feature is a real differentiator for your offering, but many times what internal employees identify as a wow factor is not all that important to the audience you are trying to solicit business from.

What makes a company stand out, and generates brand awareness and loyal customers is often more about non-product intangibles - true differences that you excel at over and above another company that markets in your same space. For example, many online businesses overlook the things that make customers buy from them and keep coming back. This is your Distinctive Competence. Some examples include:

1. Deep commitment to an online shopping experience that has been throroughly vetted from the customer's perspective - one that makes it incredibly easy to figure out which product or service they need and a checkout process that is seamless and doesn't repetitively ask for the same information.



2. Expertise! Of course it's vital to have engineers, designers, support personnel that are product experts, but the real bang for the buck comes from being an expert in your market. Know what your customers want, deliver it, and be able to articulate it.



3. Your impeccable customer service that offers multiple avenues to reach you and provides a timely customized response, not an FAQ.



4. Your product development process that enables you to more quickly add new features that customers request - plus an easy way for your customers to ask for such enhancements.



5. Your unique expertise in a vertical market that makes competing horizontal applications too "heavy" for a particular industry or target user group. This also requires some discipline and management committment to pick a market and stick with it and resist the urge to make your offering one-size-fits-all unless there are truly features that benefit multiple markets. This approach establishes your credibility as an undisputed expert in your target market.



6. Online help and pointers that make it much easier for your customers to conduct their business with you without having to make a phone call.

Whatever your Distinctive Competence is, it should be boldy promoted on your website and backed up with real claims and execution. This philosophy will help make your company truly outshine your competetors, and increase your customer loyalty and culminate in business success.