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Guest post by: Peter O'Donoghue Become an Author

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In part 1, I demonstrated it's not all about sales training. Sometimes sales can be increased by developing your companies uniqueness.

Believe me, I know how hard this process is and for some companies they believe they can never find uniqueness. To those I ask

"If you can't articulate why you are special, unique and different, then why would I choose you yet alone pay you a premium?"

The strange thing is most companies have something they believe that makes them truly unique and may be able to tell you in conversation yet fail to put it on any marketing or sales material. What a wasted opportunity!!

The things that just won't 'cut the mustard' in today's business climate:

Quality: Just to say 'we strive for the best quality', or "we guarantee the highest quality" is not enough for a number of reasons:

• In today's competitive environment quality is expected just to be considered as an entrant.

• What does quality mean? Is it the way you handle meetings, the quality of the documents you produce or the quality of the service you provide? In a service business that is by and large intangible how can someone tell if your tax return is quality? They can't try it on or feel it.

If you feel that quality really is your uniqueness then say so. Be specific. If you have offered a 100% money back, no quibble guarantee for five years and you have had 800 clients in that time and not one has requested a refund, surely it makes sense to shout it from the roof tops!

Service: Again service is often said to be the difference compelling enough to use a company yet hardly any one can justify it. If this is your advantage then quantify it:

• We guarantee to produce XZY within three days or you do not pay us for the service.

• If you order by XYZ by 4.PM we guarantee to produce ABC by mid day the very next day

These guarantees communicate clearly that you understand the service required and that you are extremely confident of providing it.

Expertise: Many companies I come across in 'expert service' i.e lawyers, accountants, think their clients are buying expertise. Most prospects for these complex services cannot evaluate expertise, they can not tell a really good tax return , but they can tell if a relationship is good and if the phone calls are returned. Clients are experts at knowing if they feel valued. Your expertise is assumed. You are selling a relationship - that needs the most work.

Some possible starting points for service business to define their uniqueness:

• It can be your actual solution and benefits

• Your approach to what you do or how you do what you do

• The type of client you serve - any specialisms

• The way you provide your service

• Your style of doing things

• The speed of service

• A solid guarantee

• A payment policy

So far so good? Remember to look out for Part 3 or have a look at my links below.

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