What Makes YOU Different!

A few weeks back we built a website for a recently refurbished hotel and I dropped in to have a look at this impressive hotel. During my visit, they indicated they had a photographer who had taken the images for the website so I was excited to see them.

When they arrived I flicked through the images I became increasingly disappointed.  Don’t get me wrong the quality of the images was excellent but the subject of the images was not what I expected.

I jumped on the phone with the client to find out if I misunderstood my first visit to the hotel.  As excluding two photos all the images were beds (not even the room).  I asked a simple question.  Are the beds your point of difference.  Were they perhaps orthopaedic, massage, heated, vibrating… The response was a slightly confused no.  Ok.  I asked, what is your point of difference?

When working with different clients from different industries one of the questions we ask that often creates the biggest head scratch is… what makes you different from your competitors?

It really shouldn’t be a difficult question.  It should be one of the reasons you get up in the morning.  It should be a message that drives your marketing. You should be able to articulate it quickly and easily.

Yet… frequently when we ask the question we get an awkward silence.  Many businesses get so stuck into what they do they forget to think about why they are different / better / unique.  Good points of difference should also avoid generalities and things that all businesses talk about like best customer service.  Don’t get me wrong your business should aspire to this but how can I customer verify it and how is this statement different from everyone in your marketplace?

If you don’t have a point of difference how do you help a client decide you are the right business for them?  Take a moment and think if you can provide your point of difference.  Got it?  Good.  No?  Then I strongly recommend you see a good business coach.  Contact me as I can set you up.

Back to my story, the hotel had a really good point of difference.  We paused the site while they reshot the photos to reflect it.   The website was successful because the business understood why the images and the text were important.

The message is simple.  Understand why you are different / better and tell your customers about it.