How to obtain Competitive Advantage

Ask yourself the following question:

"Am I the envy of my competitors?"

If the answer is anything other than a resounding "YES" then there is a high likelihood of the company not having a competitive advantage in the market place.

I define competitive advantage as:

"A unique combination of all known attributes, universal or derived, that attribute towards superior performance."

Having competitive advantage is a good start. However, competitive advantage needs to be sustainable if success is desired. Companies gain competitive advantage by utilizing one or more of the following:

1. Price
2. Breadth of Products and Services
3. Operations
4. Marketing
5. Workforce
6. Client Servicing

Price:

Price positioning is often a commonly used strategy where there is a lot of competition. Many companies constantly monitor their competition's prices and not only try to match but beat prices. Consumers are winners in this scenario but many times quality suffers. Customer loyalty is the lowest. Walmart is a good example.

Breadth of Products and Services:

A company can obtain competitive advantage by offering a variety of products in the same category. Rather than being specialist, the company gains advantage by being a generalist. Proctor & Gamble is a good example.

Operations:

How the company operates its business and streamlines its operations can be also a very big competitive advantage. Many companies continue to optimize operations and limit activities that do not produce the desired results. Toyota is a good example.

Marketing:

Product and service placement can also attribute towards a company's competitive advantage. Traditional media advertising, Internet only, targeting the high net worth, frequency of the campaign, etc. are a few ways companies can gain advantage over their competition. McDonald's is a good example.

Workforce:

The quality and capability of human capital of a company can also be a competitive advantage. Companies that value one's workforce and provide the right tools necessary to support the activities of their staff many-a-times gain competitive advantage over their competition. Google is a good example.

Client Servicing:

Processes and activities focused on customer issues be a great competitive advantage. This generates customer satisfaction and loyalty for the long run. Starbucks is a good example.

Use this information and identify your competive advantage.

Good Luck.

Tiill next time....

Sal

http://www.salmankkhan.coom/

http://salmankkhan.blogspot.com/

Economic recession worries got you down? Solution: Initiate

Recently all one sees and hears on media is "recession, recession, recession". Now I am speaking in for the US Market, but there is also a global recession in the works.

Let’s just get to the point. Recession is upon us or coming soon. What does this mean for the entrepreneur or small business owner? Contrary to what you may think that recession is bad...this is a great time for your business. Look at the tremendous opportunity in the market place. Recession weeds out the wanna-be's. The people who truly believe in their product and service will be the ones standing.

So how do you ensure your survival? The answer is very simple, which is that you must initiate and be proactive.

You must move away from waiting and hoping for business and start moving towards creating a need/desire for your product/service.

You can start to make calls everyday. Start with your existing customers. Call them or go visit them in person. Spend time with them. Improve on your existing relationship. Find out about their short-term and long-term needs. Ask them about their industry trends. Find ways to align your product/service inline with their needs. This will generate value and when the value surpasses the need, it turns into a "want". -And once that happens all you have to do is to ink the deal.

Extend your approach to prospects as well. Make a proactive effort to make a new prospect appointment each week (every day would be ideal). Visit the prospect. Build a relationship. Find out about their needs and wants. Prior to the visit research their industry trend. Find a way to align your product/service with their needs in order to convert their need in to a "want" thereby heightening value of your product/service.

Do this everyday and often and you will insure your success in this economic recession. You can also match needs and wants of the various people in your network, i.e. match your clients with prospects and vise-a-verse.

Ever heard of the phrase "only the strong shall survive" or "survival of the fittest". This is the time to show what you are made of. All the businesses that are waiting for stuff to happen will have a hard time to live through this phase. If you are proactive in imitating contacts then your chances will much better.

Till next time!

Sal
www.salmankkhan.com

Tips to align yourself and your presentation with the client and their needs

I am frequented by many sales persons and therefore I get to see the differences between a good sales person and a great sales person.

This blog will focus on how to approach your prospects and align your self with not only them but also their needs. I will discuss "practical" techniques on strategic client alignment. Through out this blog I plan to use prospect and client interchangeably.

Let’s start with the don'ts. The best advice I can give you is do not approach the prospect and start to ramble on about your product and/or service. Also, do not appear to listen; but actually listen to their needs. -And whatever you do, do not force the product on the prospect. This will leave a bad feeling with them and will guarantee no repeat business or referrals.

Now, let’s focus on the do's.

Always be cheerful, greet your client with a smile. Look sharp, and where permissible have a firm yet comfortable handshake. If you are wearing a jacket, make sure you open the button when you are making your presentation and NEVER cross your arms during the presentation.

Do establish a repertoire with the prospect. This means take a few minutes to ask them about their day, talk about anything EXCEPT politics and religion (unless you are selling in that industry of course).

Conduct a needs analysis by asking them their pain points. Repeat their concerns to them so that both of you are on the same page. Expose other areas of improvement, but do not be critical. Make sure you address this matter as objectively as possible.

Empathize with the prospect, but do not side with their problems. Acknowledge the problems and offer sincere empathy.

If you feel that your product/service will satisfy their need, and then offer solutions to their pain points. For each of their issues, specifically address how the product or service will provide the solution. Do not move to the next point till the prospect has agreed or understood the solution that the product/service offers.

You will notice that with such an approach you will create a value for your product. When the value is established and the "need" turns into a "want", price is not an obstacle.

Till next time....

Sal
http://www.salmankkhan.com

Research, research, and research some more!

The other day I heard on TV that Donald Trump learned his success strategies from his father, who was a very successful real estate developer himself. According to the program it was stated that the reason Trump's father was successful (and the one of the important factors to Trump's own success) was that he always made it a point to find out the cost of everything. This gave him a lot of leverage in negotiating with contractors.

So the question is that does this principle apply to all industries? The answer is most definitely yes. Not only does this principle apply to all industries but it applies to all areas of life and work. It is even more relevant when dealing with not only vendors but also clients.

Before you make that call to a prospect make time to research that prospects business and industry information. You should plan to make "research" a regular task in your approach planning.

If your prospect/client is a publically traded company then the research is easy. Just go on their website and read up on the company, any latest news, etc. Go to the public library or a book store and scan through some industry related publications, trade magazines. Scan through the news paper or web for industry or company related news published on blogs and other non-traditional news medium. You can also subscribe to sites that offer public company research such as Bloomberg, Hoovers, etc.

If your prospect is private then you can still do industry research. You can contact their local chamber of commerce and find out about them i.e. if they are a member. If they have a site, you can scan for information there as well. As with publically traded firms, scan their industry related trade journals and other publications.

In summation, do your homework. Be prepared to talk intelligently about the prospect/client's industry and other news that affects their business. A little prep time will make you stand out from your competition.

Till next time...

Sal
www.salmankkhan.com