The factors you can differentiate with

Differentiate yourself by identifying what your product does that others can’t

or don’t. You’re looking for the most persuasive, meaningful, and unique dif-

ference that your competitors can’t claim. You can differentiate yourself by

using these four factors:

 ✓ Price: You want to evaluate what your price is compared to your com-

petitors. Is it higher or lower? One risk you take when differentiating

due to price is that price isn’t difficult to change. Plus, while some con-

sumers will purchase based on price, most spend more time evaluating

other differentiating factors such as benefits or service.

 ✓ Focus: You can differentiate yourself by using your focus. For example,

are you specialized in a particular area? Are you viewed as one of the

experts in an industry? Consumers often purchase from companies that

they feel are experts or specialized in an industry rather than companies

that are more generalized.

 ✓ Product/service: You can differentiate by using your quality of product

or the benefits that you offer. How do they stand out from among your

competitors? What benefits do you offer that they don’t? Why is your

product of better quality? These are the things that a consumer pays

attention to before they look at a price tag. Differentiating a product

from its competition is a bit different from differentiating a service. For

example, if you’re differentiating a product, you may want to focus on

these common factors:

 • Design

 • Durability

 • Reliability

 • Reparability

 • Style

 • Customer

consulting

 • Customer

training

 • Delivery

 • Installation

 • Ordering ease

 On the other hand, suppose you’re marketing a service. You may want

to focus on the following common factors:

 ✓ Customer service: You can differentiate by the customer service that

you provide. How does it compare to the competition? Do you promise

service within a certain span of time? How do you follow up with con-

sumers? Consumers take service very seriously and if you can show

them how you stand out from among your competition, they will pay

attention.