Be Different or be dead

December 4, 2010

Why business success depends on being different not by being better

Source: Unsplash

Why business success depends on being different not by being better.

The majority of business failure is due in large part to the lack of organizational survival skills. So what’s the solution? How do you develop these skills?

What are the things that an organization should do to immunize itself against the shocks of external events?

The answer can be boiled down to this: if you are not different you are dead or you soon will be

In other words, to be able to survive, an organization needs to position itself uniquely in the marketplace.

It must be able to carve out a special place in the customer’s mind so that loyalty is not only created but also has a long life. An organization must Be Different.

I’m sure you’ve heard it said that if the external environment is changing faster than the inside of an organization, the end is near.

You need to recognize and keep pace with the dynamics impacting your business, and if you fail to do so, it will not be a question of whether or not your organization will die; it will be a matter of when.

DiFFERENT beats better

The interesting thing is that you don’t necessarily have to be better than your competitors; you just have to be different.
I am not suggesting that you can get away with providing shoddy products and services or marginal customer service; rather that you find a way to redefine yourself as different from others in the marketplace and give customers what they want in the quality they expect.

The challenge is to create meaningful and compelling differences that will separate you from your competition, and to articulate these differences to your target customers in a way that will convince them to do business with your organization and no one else.

A meaningful difference is value, provided that it combines a high must matter factor to the customer with a low currently satisfied factor. It is something that is really important to the customer and is currently not satisfied by any supplier in the market.

Your business plan must be built around this notion.

You need to get the customer’s attention, clear the message clutter, and then tell them in very clear and specific terms why they only have one choice, and that choice is you.

This process requires that your organization develop and communicate a value proposition to the market that is truly unique.

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

• Posted 12.4.10 at 11:00 am by Roy Osing
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