Be Different or be dead

May 12, 2011

Why claims like these don’t give you a competitive advantage

Source: Unsplash

Why claims like these don’t give you a competitive advantage.

When you make statements like these, you really have no advantage over your competition at all…

you’re better;
you’re the best;
you’re excellent;
you’re the market leader;

you’re exceptional;
you’re number one;
you’re in the top three;
you’ve been around for 100 years;
You’ve got the most knowledgeable employees;

you’ve got the lowest prices;
you’ve got the most;
you’ve got more;
you’re the fastest;

you’ve got the most comprehensive;
you’ve got the most complete;
you’ve got the biggest;
you’re ahead of others.

The crowd makes these types of competitive claims when they have no distinguishing characteristics. They’re meaningless

These statements don’t work. They’re totally ineffective. No one believes them.

Aspirational claims like these don’t mean anything. Not specific enough. Can’t be interpreted into meaningful action by anyone. But they make the authors feel good that they are at least saying something about why people should buy from them. But it’s wasted energy.

Real competitive advantage comes from being both relevant (satisfying a want or desire that people really care about) and unique (providing something that you do that no one else does).

You need to strive to be the ONLY ones that do what you do.

Spend time building your ONLY. Leave aspirational thinking aside.

If you can’t be the ONLY one that does what you do, you don’t have a competitive position.

Cheers,
Roy
Check out my BE DiFFERENT or be dead Book Series

• Posted 5.12.11 at 10:53 am by Roy Osing
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