Find your competitive edge and sell it

There are no corners safe from competition. Playing the field is one thing, managing to stay in it is another. The traditional selling approach of presenting features and benefits are no longer effective. So, how do you keep generating sales?What a company or business must do in order to keep up in the game is to define and develop a strong competitive advantage. Competition will always be the name of the game in the corporate or business world. You might as well add it to the facts of life: tax, death, and competition. What is your competitive edge? Even if you believe in your product or service, this may be a difficult question to answer. Here are ways to make it simple:

1. Most business owners still resist change. Change is a product of innovation that not everyone accepts so use that as an opportunity to develop a competitive edge. Change tends to thin out the crowd so take advantage of this – make change your moto.

2. One way to make your product or service unique is to identify different methods of customizing or personalizing them. Ever wonder why people spend so much time browsing Facebook? People love customizing things. They love changing profile photos and cover pages. The mass-produced generation is already gone. A one-size-fits-all product or service is no longer selling. Look into customizing and personalizing your products and services to carve your unique brand and competitive advantage.

3. Convenience was good then and is now. Convenience is still highly sought after and always will be – customers can buy practically anything while sitting in the comfort of their own home. Find ways to make the customer buying experience and support as easy as clicking install in the App Store.

We are used to looking for untapped markets with low or almost zero competition. After much discussion and studies, some thought leaders now agree that strategising around or towards an aggressive competition is more profitable than the old decree. Businesses must stop promoting the approach of comparative analysis and traditional features versus benefits. Customers are hungry to spend their hard earned money on quality products and services that would improve the quality of their lives. Start looking for ways to stand out from the competition, how can you be more innovative? How can you incorporate change better? How can you align your brand better? What can you do to become the leader in your field?