| Why should I choose you
instead of your competitor? That's the
toughest competitive question in business
today. Any business. Everyone claims
to be "the best." Talk is cheap. The
marketplace says "prove it."
What are you willing or able to do that the
other guy isn't willing or able to do?
What do you know that your competition doesn't
know? Do you have expertise they don't
have? Do you perform a service they don't
perform? Do you have skills they don't
possess? Maybe your differentiator is your
incredible level of personal attention.
That's fine. But prove it. I can
choose you based on any of those
differentiators.
In the movie Jerry Maguire, the
great line that everyone remembers is "Show me
the money!" Don't tell me what a great job
you'll do. Prove it. Stop promising
and start delivering. Jerry Seinfeld once
said that after he ended his phenomenally
successful television show, whenever he
performed live, he had about five minutes of
grace from an audience, only because he was the
famous Jerry Seinfeld. But after five
minutes, he had to be funny. Nobody cared
how funny his television show used to be as they
sat in a nightclub or concert hall having paid
money to be entertained. He had to deliver
the goods.
It's no different with your business.
We have to deliver the goods every day, day
after day. Many people think that building
a great brand, be it for a bank, a hospital, a
university, or any other endeavor, is a matter
of telling a great story. It's not.
You build great brands based on great
performance, not great stories or advertising.
Focus on creating results for your
customers and you'll quite naturally build a
great brand for yourself. |