Creating Competitive Advantage: Give Customers a Reason to Choose You Over Your Competitors

Isabel Isidro

February 5, 2014

entrepreneurial edge

Why should I do business with you . . . and not your competitor?

Whether you are a retailer, manufacturer, distributor, or service provider — if you cannot answer this question, you are surely losing customers, clients, and market share.

The eye-opening book Creating Competitive Advantage: Give Customers a Reason to Choose You Over Your Competitors reveals that identifying your competitive advantages (and trumpeting them to the marketplace) is the most surefire way to close deals, retain clients, and stay miles ahead of the competition.

The five fatal flaws of most companies:

  • They don’t have a competitive advantage but think they do.
  • They have a competitive advantage but don’t know what it is — so they lower prices instead.
  • They know what their competitive advantage is but neglect to tell clients about it.
  • They mistake “strengths” for competitive advantages.

They don’t concentrate on competitive advantages when making strategic and operational decisions.
The good news is that you can overcome these costly mistakes — by identifying your competitive advantages and creating new ones. Consultant, public speaker, and competitive advantage expert Jaynie Smith will show you how scores of small and large companies substantially increased their sales by focusing on their competitive advantages. When advising a CEO frustrated by his salespeople’s inability to close deals, Smith discovered that his company stayed on schedule 95 percent of the time — an achievement no one else in his industry could claim. By touting this and other competitive advantages to customers, closing rates increased by 30 percent — and so did company revenues.

See also  How to Overcome Objections to Price

Jack Welch has said, “If you don’t have a competitive ‘advantage, don’t compete” This straight-to-the-point book is filled with insightful stories and specific steps on how to pinpoint your competitive advantages, develop new ones, and get the message out about them.




About the Authors:

Author Jaynie L. Smith is the founder of ICS Marketing and president of Smart Advantage, Inc., a management consultancy whose clients include hundreds of middle-market businesses. She also serves as the Florida chair for The Executive Committee (TEC), an international organization of over 11,000 CEOs. She resides in Hollywood, Florida.

William G. Flanagan has been a writer and editor at Forbes, the Wall Street Journal, BusinessWeek, Esquire, and New York magazine. His last book was Dirty Rotten CEOs (Citadel). Visit www.smartadvantage.com for more information.

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Isabel Isidro
Isabel Isidro is the Co-founder of brigittesglobalstore.com, one of the longest-running online resources dedicated to helping aspiring entrepreneurs start and grow home-based and small businesses. She is also the Co-Founder and CEO of Ysari Digital, a digital marketing agency specializing in SEO, content strategy, and performance marketing for small and mid-sized businesses. With over two decades of experience in online business development, Isabel has launched and managed multiple successful websites, including Women Home Business, Starting Up Tips and Learning from Big Boys.Passionate about empowering others to succeed in business, Isabel combines real-world experience with a deep understanding of digital marketing, monetization strategies, and lean startup principles. A mom of three boys, avid vintage postcard collector, and frustrated scrapbooker, she brings creativity and entrepreneurial hustle to everything she does. Connect with her on Twitter Twitter or explore her work at brigittesglobalstore.com.

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