To be different from competitors on the market is an essential thing in ensuring prosperous future of your company. So, it is critical to have a clear answer to this question: how your company is different from competitors.
One of the most asked questions from entrepreneurs, when we talk about the differentiation between them and their competitors, is „how I can differentiate when there are too many similarities that I can’t avoid?” If you become different from competitors, the potential customers will choose you instead of them. Because of that, this is an important question you need to answer.
Probably this is a valid question from more than 95% of entrepreneurs who are not inventing something new or create a new market for entirely new products and services.
There are many things that different companies do in the same way. They create their products and services in the same or similar way. Also, they market their products and services in the same or similar way. They are targeting the same or similar customers.
So, how your company can become different from competitors if you find yourself in such a position?
To help you in discovering differentiation possibilities, I will share 20 plus questions which answers will lead you to find unique ways to make your company different from competitors.
1. Different From Competitors: Products and Services
1. Are my products and services better than competitors? If they are, what is the most significant difference? If they are not, how I can make them better?
2. Are my products and services better solve customer’s problems than competitor’s products and services? Are these problems what customers want to solve? Why I better solve my customer’s problems from my competitors? Can I improve the problem-solving process and how?
3. Are my products and services more innovative when it comes to functionality and design than competitors? What functionalities and design features are most valuable to the customers? Why my products and services have better functionalities and design? How can I improve these to stay one step ahead of my competitors?
4. Do I continuously improve my products and services to make them better for the customers?
5. How do I know where are my products and services compared to competitor’s products and services? What analytical tools I will use? What information sources I will need to use?
2. Different From Competitors: Total Offer
1. Am I use additional things around my products and services to increase the value of my total offer? What can I offer as an addition to my current offer? Also, what customer’s services are valued the most by the customers? What services offer my competitors and I still doesn’t offer to my customers?
2. Is my total offer delivering the extraordinary experience for my customers better than my competitor’s offer? What is the exceptional customer’s experience?
3. Do I have better incentives from my competitors to make customers come back for more in my company? How my competitors attract customers with different incentives? How can I improve my incentives?
4. Do I innovate and improve total customers experience continuously with my total offer? What my competitors are doing in this matter?
5. How my total offer is positioned on the market compared with competitors? How can I compare the position of my total offer with competitors?
3. Different From Competitors: Business Processes
1. Are my business processes optimized to deliver total customers experience better than my competitor’s processes? What are the most critical elements in this systems? How can I continue to develop my systems to improve total customers experience with my company continuously?
2. How my business processes will effect delivering total customers experience? What business processes directly impact on providing total customers experience?
3. Do I continuously innovate new business processes to always be one step ahead of the competition? Do I have in place systems that will ensure continuous innovation?
4. Do I continuously improve my current business processes to always be one step ahead of the competition? Do I have in place systems that will ensure continuous improvement process?
5. How my business processes perform compared with competitors? How can I measure and compare this? Where can I find the required information?
4. Different From Competitors: Business Model
1. Is my business model better than competitor’s from the customer’s perspective? How my business model is different from competitors business model? What do I need to do to improve my business model?
2. Is my business model more dynamic and adjustable according to market needs? How can I develop and implement a dynamic business model for my company?
3. Do I innovate my business models to stay ahead of the competition and come close to customers? Do I have systems in place to continuously work on business model innovation to always be different from competitors?
4. Do I improve my business models to stay ahead of the competition and come close to customers? How can I improve my business model to become different from competitors?
5. How I measure the performance of my business model compared to competitors? How can I compare my business model with competitors? Where I can find and how I can use the information related to competitor’s business model?
