Everyone wants to be unique, different, stand out in the crowd, and be viewed as being special among their competitors. This is the easy part. But what they end up doing, acting like, talking about, and delivering is just like everyone else…they are a commodity. This is the hard part…actually taking steps to stand out and be unique. But you can’t be both…you have to pick one.
What you “ACT LIKE” to your audience is who they believe you are…period. You have chosen, intentionally or by default, to act this way. The only way to change the way you are perceived is to change the way you act. This is why it is the hard part…changing the way you act and doing it consistently isn’t easy. Like the old phrase says, “If it was easy, everyone would do it,” is more true than ever these days when differentiation and uniqueness rule.
So you get to choose…one direction or the other.
- You get to be UNIQUE…different in the eyes of your customers and potential customers. You have chosen to stand out and be recognized by your customers as special…you stand alone amongst your competitors.
- You get to be a COMMODITY…looking and acting like everyone else in your industry to your customers and potential customers. This is by far where the majority of companies are today…well over 90%. It’s easier to look and act like everyone else…copy others in your space…be like your competition. We study our competition to see what they are doing so we can do the same thing…maybe a little better but not substantially better so we are still viewed as a commodity.
The choice you make is what you will act upon. Many say they want to be UNIQUE but don’t have the processes, systems, or radically awesome customer experience in place to prove it. Without proof, you fall into the COMMODITY category, regardless of whether you want to be there or not. Being unique takes action…lots of it…consistently.
Both are CULTURES…they define who you are to your employees as well. They see right through the rhetoric just as easily (if not more easily) than your customers. Tell them you are unique and special and different and then act like everyone else in your industry doesn’t work…they see you as “just like all the others in our industry” rather than someone who chooses to stand out. And if the culture doesn’t support it, good luck with getting your customers to buy in as well…never happen.
Next time you get together with your leadership team, put the question on the table, “Do we want to truly be unique and stand out or are we content with being a commodity and acting like everyone else in our industry?” The team will give a resounding YES to being unique and standing out…guaranteed. Then ask the next question, “HOW do you think we can do this throughout the company so everything we do is in support of making this happen?” This is usually where there is much less excitement in the room and lots of silence. During the silence, ask the next question, “WHAT specifically do you think you can do in your area that would truly make us unique and cause the customer to say ‘WOW you are really different from all your competitors’…what does that look like for each of you?” Now you can hear a pin drop in the room.
The final question you, as the CEO or Business Owner can ask is the one that helps you decide which direction you will truly take. Simply ask, “Are all of you in the room, including myself, willing to put 100% effort, resources and money, into changing our company in such drastic and disruptive ways to create a remarkable and incredible customer experience and change our culture to support it?” If you get lots of stammering and stuttering on the answer, your team has decided to remain a COMMODITY. If you get some super excited leaders and rousing support that passionately says they will and can’t wait to get started, you have taken STEP ONE in moving toward being UNIQUE.
I would love to hear the answers sometime if you are willing to share them. I am also willing to talk to you (or your team) anytime you want to share with you what this will ultimately look like for your company. This will most likely be the most excited anyone inside or outside your company has been since its inception. Give it a shot…it will tell you more about your leadership team and where your company is than any dashboard or other metrics you get on a regular basis. And if you decide to be radical and stand out…KUDOS TO YOU…you are in the minority and because of this, you will command the majority of the ideal customers.
