This Quiz Will Change How You Differentiate Your Small Business
By Andrew Patricio
February 12, 2018
Small Business & Entrepreneurship
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The key to a successful business is solving a problem better than anyone else. This is a company’s differentiation. Yet as simple as it seems, many businesses, regardless of size, don’t fully understand their key differentiators. Even fewer are able to concisely communicate it. To narrow in on what makes you better than every other business, take this short quiz developed from The Challenger Sale.
Start by listing the aspects of your business you think differentiate it from others. Then, run each through the following three questions. If the answer is, “yes” to all of them; congratulations! You’ve got yourself a differentiator. If it only gets two out of three, then you’ve got yourself a strength. And while not as strong, you can group strengths to make them differentiators. So get your list and see if this quiz changes how you differentiate your small business.
Question 1: Is it Unique?
This is an obvious first test for any aspect of your business that you think is a differentiator. The big test here is to answer, truthfully, who, if anyone, does what you do. If there is someone who does, then ask yourself if they do it the way you do.
To find a differentiator, it may not be what you do, as much as how you do it. So think critically here and then continue to question two.
Question 2: Is it Valuable?
The second part of finding a differentiator is to determine if it is valuable. In other words; are customers willing to pay more for it? Just because you do something that no one else does, doesn’t mean anyone cares. What makes an attribute of your business a differentiator is only if a customer is willing to pay for it. Otherwise, you might have a marketing gimmick.
Question 3: Is it Proven?
The final test to any potential differentiating attribute of your small business is if it is proven. Saying your customer service is great is one thing, having it proven with some award is another. Third party validation is the final stamp of approval for any differentiator.
According to the Challenger Sale, if you have an aspect of your business that fits two of these three, you have a strength. And with several strengths, you can create your own differentiator. And with a true differentiator, your sales and marketing can start working together to make winning easier.
Start by listing the aspects of your business you think differentiate it from others. Then, run each through the following three questions. If the answer is, “yes” to all of them; congratulations! You’ve got yourself a differentiator. If it only gets two out of three, then you’ve got yourself a strength. And while not as strong, you can group strengths to make them differentiators. So get your list and see if this quiz changes how you differentiate your small business.
Question 1: Is it Unique?
This is an obvious first test for any aspect of your business that you think is a differentiator. The big test here is to answer, truthfully, who, if anyone, does what you do. If there is someone who does, then ask yourself if they do it the way you do.
To find a differentiator, it may not be what you do, as much as how you do it. So think critically here and then continue to question two.
Question 2: Is it Valuable?
The second part of finding a differentiator is to determine if it is valuable. In other words; are customers willing to pay more for it? Just because you do something that no one else does, doesn’t mean anyone cares. What makes an attribute of your business a differentiator is only if a customer is willing to pay for it. Otherwise, you might have a marketing gimmick.
Question 3: Is it Proven?
The final test to any potential differentiating attribute of your small business is if it is proven. Saying your customer service is great is one thing, having it proven with some award is another. Third party validation is the final stamp of approval for any differentiator.
According to the Challenger Sale, if you have an aspect of your business that fits two of these three, you have a strength. And with several strengths, you can create your own differentiator. And with a true differentiator, your sales and marketing can start working together to make winning easier.