What Are You Really Offering?
Published by Daniel A. Dahlen on
Last year in this blog I mentioned the importance of understanding what matters most to your best customers.
This can be a helpful starting point in helping you either establish or evolve your differentiation – the features of your business, service or products that set you apart from others with the same alignment.
Along the same lines, it can be a good practice to ask the question:
“What am I really offering?”
It’s Not Just Your Services or Products
If your answer to “what am I really offering” are just the products or services you offer, you’re likely not differentiating enough.
Products and services are important – but if those same products and services can be easily offered or produced by others with the same alignment – what’s the motivation for your customers to choose your solutions?
The Problem You Solve (And The Ideal Outcome)
I say this many times here, but your small business exists for your customers.
Whether it’s a specific problem you solve or a desire that you fulfill, your customers are the focal point for the services and products you provide.
When all is said and done, what is the ideal outcome for those problems or desires?
Some Examples
“Peace Of Mind”
While peace of mind is a bit vague, when it’s used in the context of, say, security alarm systems and services it’s what those customers were ultimately trying to accomplish: peace of mind that their home, property and family were protected through those alarm systems and services.
“Seamless Experience”
For many of my clients over the years, working on home projects involves several steps that can span multiple days, crews and contractors – a nightmare for homeowners that try to manage it themselves.
By offering a better plan and full project coordination, it creates a seamless transition from a previous, worn down condition to a new, improved & delightful result – without them needing to lift a finger.
“Old School Customer Service”
This is a classic for many small businesses, a desire for human-to-human interaction – and a more hands-on, personal approach to services or products.
Often thrown into support queues and chatbots, offering direct contact and support for services and products they provide, this represents and “old school” way for small businesses to stand out.
Escaping A “Sea of Sameness” In Search, Social & Beyond
In a world that’s full of options for your customers, differentiating – and communicating that differentiation – is a great way to separate yourself across many digital surfaces.
Very often the problem you solve or the desire you fulfill will start with a generic search or a generic discovery – full of generic solutions and generic products they can get anywhere.
Whether that’s in search, social, email, forums or anywhere else your customers may be searching or discovering solutions, making it clear what you’re really offering is a way to separate yourself from the other generic options available.
You can express this with words (like the above examples), images or in video – whatever option offers you the quickest way to communicate your “real offer”.
What Are You Really Offering?
For many local small businesses, proximity often serves as a good starting point for differentiation – but it’s generally not where you should stop differentiating.
Simply being the closest option is nice, but if you’re able to separate yourself even further – and get to the heart of what your customers are looking for in a service or product – it can help you create even more separation from your competitors – large or small.
Being local is good.
Being local and aligning the desired outcome your customers are looking for with those services and products is even better.
