How To Differentiate Anything - Including Your Products
How To Differentiate Anything - Including Your Products
competitor's product.
The first step to becoming better is being different. This is easy to say and
hard to do.
If you believe any of your products are commodities you probably don't
understand the last sentence.
Products don't turn themselves into commodities - salespeople do it.
If you truly believe in the concept of differentiation - there are simply no
commodities on this planet.
You have it all wrong if you believe your customers buy your products
because they believe your products are unique in some ways.
What really happens is your customers and prospects are attracted to your
products because you (The seller) believe your products are unique.
It starts and ends with you. Never forget that.
During my corporate sales training programs and the annual Boot Camps I
do - I always make a point of saying this, "If I were selling single ply toilet
tissue, I could differentiate mine from the competition."
Well glory be, I'm in Park City Utah last year doing a sales training
assignment at a combo ski/golf resort. And what do I see sitting on a shelf
in the bathroom - a roll of toilet tissue.
Not an ordinary roll mind you, a differentiated roll of single ply toilet tissue.
It was wrapped in dark brown paper and had the words "Emergency
Backup" prominently displayed.
All tissue paper is wrapped, but the paper in my room was wrapped in
differentiation and no doubt presented to the buyer as a better alternative to
his current product.
Your product just needs to be a little different to be considered better.
The list of what can be differentiated is endless. Since we both have time
for what's endless - here's a short list to get you headed in the right
direction:
You can differentiate . . . how you make appointments.
You can differentiate . . . how you confirm appointments.
You can differentiate . . . how you begin a sales call.
You can differentiate . . . how you end a sales call.
You can differentiate . . . how you ask sales questions.
You can differentiate . . . how you present your products.
You can differentiate . . . how you package your proposals.
You can differentiate . . . how you show your appreciation to your
customers.
You can differentiate . . . how you acquire and apply new sales skills.
You can differentiate . . . everything about you, your products, and your
company.
And if you don't get this concept - you're doomed to sell on price.
Logically, when someone is comparing your price, it's usually a good
indication they don't see any other comparisons. Everything looks similar -
so we may as well talk about price.
And by now you realize - the more you talk about price the lower it gets.
Offer your prospects and customers more and they'll gladly pay more. It's
been said and I don't recall who said it, "Profitability is the applause of a
happy customer."
If profitability is the applause of a happy customer you should be raising
your prices, especially if your customers are happy.
If profitability is the applause of a happy customer you should be raising
your prices, especially if you're making your customers happy.
How To Differentiate Anything Including Your Products - To learn more about this author, visit Jim Meisenheimer's Website.
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You will always command a higher price if your product is better than your
competitor's product.
The first step to becoming better is being different. This is easy to say and
hard to do.
If you believe any of your products are commodities you probably don't
understand the last sentence.
Products don't turn themselves into commodities - salespeople do it.
If you truly believe in the concept of differentiation - there are simply no
commodities on this planet.
You have it all wrong if you believe your customers buy your products
because they believe your products are unique in some ways.
What really happens is your customers and prospects are attracted to your
products because you (The seller) believe your products are unique.
It starts and ends with you. Never forget that.
During my corporate sales training programs and the annual Boot Camps I
do - I always make a point of saying this, "If I were selling single ply toilet
tissue, I could differentiate mine from the competition."
Well glory be, I'm in Park City Utah last year doing a sales training
assignment at a combo ski/golf resort. And what do I see sitting on a shelf
in the bathroom - a roll of toilet tissue.
Not an ordinary roll mind you, a differentiated roll of single ply toilet tissue.
It was wrapped in dark brown paper and had the words "Emergency
Backup" prominently displayed.
All tissue paper is wrapped, but the paper in my room was wrapped in
differentiation and no doubt presented to the buyer as a better alternative to
his current product.
Your product just needs to be a little different to be considered better.
The list of what can be differentiated is endless. Since we both have time
for what's endless - here's a short list to get you headed in the right
direction:
You can differentiate . . . how you make appointments.
You can differentiate . . . how you confirm appointments.
You can differentiate . . . how you begin a sales call.
You can differentiate . . . how you end a sales call.
You can differentiate . . . how you ask sales questions.
You can differentiate . . . how you present your products.
You can differentiate . . . how you package your proposals.
You can differentiate . . . how you show your appreciation to your
customers.
You can differentiate . . . how you acquire and apply new sales skills.
You can differentiate . . . everything about you, your products, and your
company.
And if you don't get this concept - you're doomed to sell on price.
Logically, when someone is comparing your price, it's usually a good
indication they don't see any other comparisons. Everything looks similar -
so we may as well talk about price.
And by now you realize - the more you talk about price the lower it gets.
Offer your prospects and customers more and they'll gladly pay more. It's
been said and I don't recall who said it, "Profitability is the applause of a
happy customer."
If profitability is the applause of a happy customer you should be raising
your prices, especially if your customers are happy.
If profitability is the applause of a happy customer you should be raising
your prices, especially if you're making your customers happy.
How To Differentiate Anything Including Your Products - To learn more about this author, visit Jim Meisenheimer's Website.
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David AchesonDavid Acheson is the founder of DCJA Consultancy. DCJA Consultancy is a management consultancy business specialising in B2B sales consultancy. They offer bespoke and packaged sales consultancy including Sales Optimisation Review, Interim Sales Management, Sales & Marketing Review, 1:1 Sales & Management Staff Analysis, Management Training, Solution Sales Training, Creation of New Pay Plan, KPI's, run Customer Feedback Campaigns, assist with Recruitment, Coaching, Appraisals and set up Strategic Marketing Campaigns. David spent his early career in accountancy and then moved into sales in 1982, working in Office Equipment, IT, Advertising, Training, Outsourcing and Consultancy. He has held many Senior Positions in SMBs and Global Organisations including Head of Sales Operations & Head of Business Development. His knowledge, skills and great experience of the Sales Industry has led to David making keynote speeches and running educational sessions to key businesses through organisations including The Chamber of Commerce and Business Link. - Visit David Acheson's Website |
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Linda RichardsonLinda Richardson is the Founder and Executive Chairwoman of Richardson, a global sales training and performance improvement company. As a recognized leader in the industry, she has won the coveted Stevie Award for Lifetime Achievement in Sales Excellence and she was identified by Training Industry, Inc. as one of the “Top 20 Most Influential Training Professionals.” Ms. Richardson is credited with the movement to Consultative Selling and is the author of ten books on selling and sales management, including Sales Coaching — Making the Great Leap from Sales Manager to Sales Coach, and Stop Telling, Start Selling. She teaches sales and management at the Wharton Graduate School of the University of Pennsylvania and the Wharton Executive Development Center. Linda is a frequent speaker at industry and client conferences, has been published extensively in industry and training journals, and has been featured in numerous publications, including The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Nation’s Business, Selling Power, Success, and The Conference Board Magazine. Learn more about Richardson's sales training and performance improvement solutions at http://www.richardson.com web - Visit Linda Richardson's Website |
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Kim CastleWith nearly two decades in the advertising and design business, with clients like Domino's Pizza, General Motors, Direct TV, Pedigree, Wolfgang Puck, Higher Octave Music, Hollywood Celebrity Products, Disney, and Paramount, as well as thousands of entrepreneurs around the world define, structure, communicate, and position their business for greater profits, BrandU(R) co-creators Kim Castle and W. Vito Montone discovered that entrepreneurs could experience the same power that big brands command for a fraction of the cost with the world's only process-based results-drive Integral approach to business creation. BrandU(R) is helping entrepreneurs grow with the power of extreme clarity from idea...to brand...to market(TM) and helping one million entrepreneurs become successful and whole so that they can make a difference in the world. Are you one of them? If you want to experience clarity all the way to the bank(TM), get started now at http://www.brandu.com. - Visit Kim Castle's Website |
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Dianne CramptonDianne Crampton is an executive leadership coach, team culture consultant, author and president of TIGERS Success Series, Inc. Dianne has been helping CEO's and Executives connect their employees to their core values and goals for over 20 years using the trademarked TIGERS team culture process, which stands for trust, interdependence, genuineness, empathy, risk and success. To download a free white paper on behaviors that build strong teams and behaviors that will predictably tear them down go here. Dianne's contribution to the 2010 Pfeiffer Consulting Journal (an imprint of John Wiley and Sons Publishers) entitled TIGERS Hearted Teams is available in November 2009. Her new book TIGERS Among Us: 5 Winning Business Team Cultures And Why, Three Creeks Publishing will release in March 2010. To receive publishing discounts, subscribe to the free TigerTracks Newsletter here. - Visit Dianne Crampton's Website |
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Dave KurlanDave Kurlan is the founder and CEO of Objective Management Group, Inc., the industry leader in sales assessments and sales force evaluations, and the CEO of David Kurlan & Associates, Inc., a consulting firm specializing in sales force development. Dave has been a top rated speaker at Inc. Magazine's Conference on Growing the Company, the Sales & Marketing Management Conference and the Gazelles Sales & Marketing Summit. He has been featured on radio and TV, including World Business Review with General Norman Schwarzkopf, in Inc. Magazine, Selling Power Magazine, Sales & Marketing Management Magazine and Incentive Magazine. He is the author of Mindless Selling and Baseline Selling – How to Become a Sales Superstar by Using What You Already Know about the Game of Baseball. He created and wrote STAR, a proprietary recruiting process for hiring great salespeople, and he writes Understanding the Sales Force, a popular business Blog and is a contributing author to The Death of 20th Century Selling and 101 Great Ways to Improve Your Life, Volume 2. - Visit Dave Kurlan's Website |
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For an online Car Loan Calculator and finance for a cheap car loan. Get approved on car loans or car finance in Australia with cheap bank car loans and finding a car finance broker. Commercial car loans including business car finance and car lease. Car Loan Calculator has information on finance companies and getting the right cheap car loan from banks at best car loan rates and a online car loan calculator for all finance in Australia. Get the best car finance with our help at Car Loan Calculator and Finance Ezi. - Visit Richard Jefferies's Website |
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Staging DivaDebra Gould, aka The Staging Diva®, is President of Six Elements Inc., an internationally recognized home staging company. Inspired by many requests from aspiring home stagers wanting to start similar businesses, Gould created the Staging Diva Home Staging Business Training Program. Gould has trained over 1000 Staging Diva Graduates worldwide to start staging businesses. Buying decorating and selling six of her own homes in four years lead to an interest in real estate staging which she turned into a career with the launch of sixelements.com in 2002. Since then she has staged hundreds of homes in addition to teaching home staging training. Gould is the author of several home staging resources including a series of popular ebooks made up of a Design Guide, Color Guide and Portfolio Guide. For more information about Debra Gould visit stagingdiva.com. - Visit Staging Diva's Website |
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