Competitive Advantages for Lead Generation

Competition. 

It’s in everything you do.  We’re always competing with someone.

Businesses compete heavily.  In order to compete, businesses create competitive advantages that give them an edge in the market.  Competitive advantages are a company’s resources and capabilities that are better than the competition. 

Competitive advantages exist for many reasons.  The local printer will get business because he’s small, personable and easily accessible.  For copying and business cards he’s the choice.  For large, four-color printing jobs a larger competitor will have the advantage.  The large national chain can create conveniences and savings smaller competitors can’t match.  Wal-Mart is the dominant player in consumer retail.  It’s hard to compete with the variety and price Wal-Mart can offer.

Competitive advantages are a critical aspect of creating and keeping customers.  Customer acquisition costs can range from a few dollars to thousands of dollars each.  On the other end of the spectrum, the lifetime value of a customer can be hundreds of thousands of dollars.  Competitive advantages help acquire new customers and keep loyal customers happy.

1.  Customers like new things.  A competitive advantage may be a new product or service.  Finding new things that customers like and will buy is an art form.  Sometimes people are resistant to change.  New products that are too costly or too complicated won’t attract new customers.  A competitive advantage can help the new prospect overcome the urge to deny your value.  It can make them stop and read or listen.

2.  Customers like things that are better.  People will buy something that offers an advantage.  People tend to buy products they feel are better.  It may be better price, qualify, value, service or whatever.  People like to buy something better.  It makes them feel good.

3.  Customers like things that are different.  People respond to something that’s different.  When you have a strong competitive advantage, you are saying you’re different.  People don’t want to look at three of the same things.  They will look always separate out one that’s different.

4.  Customers like to be treated well.  Customer service can provide a distinct advantage.  Treating the customer well can attract new customers as well as bring current customers back.  It’s a fact that customers like to be treated with respect and feel like their patronage is worthwhile. 

Who Says Its a Competitive Advantage?
A common mistake businesses make with regards to competitive advantages is the belief that a competitive advantage is a competitive advantage because the company says it is.  Only the market can tell you if you have a competitive advantage.  Try your advantages out on the market.  Don’t get married to your own advantages.  The market place will respond by purchasing your product.

Death by Service
“We’re #1 in Customer Service!”  Everyone says this.  There are many businesses who claim to have the best customer service.  Customer service is often listed as a competitive advantage.  Using customer service as a competitive advantage only works if you have proof of service quality.  Service is something that occurs after the purchase is made.  The prospect has to trust you. 

Prospects don’t trust you.  They have no reason to trust you.  A service pitch can work, however, if you have tangible evidence that you provide better service than your competitors.  Surveys by an independent market research firm can prove you have excellent customer service.  Show this to your market place and then you can say it.

Companies with Demonstrated Competitive Advantages

JP Morgan Chase
JP Morgan Chase, with assets of approximately $1.1 trillion and operations in more than 50 countries, says size is a competitive advantage.  “JP Morgan Chase is large — both as a company and in terms of our cardholder base. That’s why Card Services is in an excellent position to capitalize on economies of scale in marketing, customer service, payment processing and other areas, where incremental savings are key to our ability to support attractive rates and offer special features.”

Sleep Country
Sleep Country is a major retailer of mattresses and believes it has a number of competitive advantages that make its performance sustainable and a platform for growth.
1. Leading market position
2. Strong brand recognition
3. Superior in-store customer experience
4. Superior home delivery and customer relationships
5. Leading supplier relationships

Lean Logistics Advantages
Lean Logistics offers significant functional advantages compared to other Transportation Management Systems. We are confident that we can demonstrate those competitive advantages.  The functional advantages On-Demand TMS™ provides include:
1. A cyclical RFP program in addition to the traditional annual, network-wide process.
2. Continuous Optimization -- the ability to evaluate a new order in the context of an existing shipment plan and add it to an existing load.
3. Cost Savings Computations including Freight Allowances, so that a buying company can evaluate if its rates are better than its suppliers’ allowances and selectively take control of inbound shipments.
4. The Private Transportation Marketplace, or Spot Market, which can be used in conjunction with other planning and execution management tools to both minimize cost and to obtain needed capacity.
5. Self-Billing settlement - We integrate traditional freight billing with self-billing to insure the smoothest operation at the lowest clerical cost for you.
6. Lean Advisor -- a complete event management system with pro-active notification.
7. On-Demand TMS™ is a complete and seamless, end-to-end offering. All of our components are completely integrated -- from capacity procurement through planning, execution management, and settlement.

Alberta, Canada
•    Alberta has one of the most competitive tax environments in North America.
•    Alberta is the only province that does not have a provincial retail sales tax.
•    Alberta has a competitive corporate tax rate for manufacturers.
•    As of April 2004, the combined federal/provincial corporate income tax rate is 33.62% for general businesses and 16.12% for small businesses.
•    Alberta has no provincial capital or payroll taxes, which are common in many other provinces and U.S. states.

Dare to Compare
The only way to know if you have a competitive advantage is to compare yourself to your competitors.  Who do you compete with?  What are their advantages?  Are you better or worse? 
 
Find your competitive advantage and win.