You can’t afford to be monotonous in slow economic times. By that I mean that you look like any other company that does a good job. If you position yourself as another “auto detail business,” then your service becomes a commodity, and the only way to differentiate merchandise is by lowering prices. A business based on beating the competition on price will not survive in the long run.
A few years ago, Seth Godin wrote a little book that should be a paradigm shift for any small business that wants to compete in a crowded market. In this book Purple cow Godin finds examples of companies that have established themselves with a USP (Unique Selling Proposition) that makes people not only remember, but talk about it with others. What you want to give them is an incredible experience.
One of the many examples he finds is the story of a notable butcher in Italy. Now, there are thousands of butchers in Italy, but there is only one that people from all over the world come to visit. His name is Dario Cecchini and he has appeared in various guidebooks and magazines around the country. Is it because their meat is better?
I’m going to guess it isn’t. However, what it does have is its own style. Cecchini creates an extraordinary experience that your customers remember. If you buy meat from his shop, you might hear him quoting Dante and raving about the Fiorentina steak. Cecchini even organized a mock funeral and buried a steak when the European Union banned the sale of bone-in steak.
A friend told me last week about a little cruise his client took to the Caribbean that defines extraordinary. The yachts only have a crew of 15 men, so the number of passengers is small. But before a single passenger gets on the boat, each member of the crew knows what they like and what they don’t like, which is their favorite wine and cigar. Each passenger is studied like a textbook by the crew so that their needs are met without fail during the trip. Cruise cost for a week-long trip: $ 50,000. The lesson: people pay more for extraordinary experiences.
Implement a powerful brand
What made Starbucks so popular before their brand started popping up on every corner? Was it the taste of coffee or the experience of going to a coffee shop and drinking expensive coffee while working on your laptop? Creating an extraordinary experience is important for any business to survive in a recessionary economy. How can you implement this strategy in your business? I am not suggesting that you quote Dante to your clients, but I am suggesting that you create an experience that your clients will talk about when chatting with friends and family. Try to find out their likes and dislikes. At least find out their birthdays and send them a birthday card every year. Hardly any other business does this.
The name of the game is “differentiate” to survive.