In a competitive marketplace, it is never the time to play “chicken” with your customers on price. Doing so leads to leap frogging your competition straight to the bottom of the profit margin ladder.  Price is and will always be an issue for some customers, but not as many as you may think.

Smart Advantage, a firm of competitive advantage consulting experts, surveyed five research firms who confirmed that price is reflected in the bottom quartile of attributes when surveyed in a blind study across most industries. This data is great news for businesses unless, of course, you have already painted your business into commodity status – as much of the insurance industry has. Recall Geico’s message:  “15 minutes could save you 15%.” Geico consistently touts price as a competitive advantage, when there are a number of other business strategies outside of engaging in a price war.

There is hope; you can get out of that commodity corner.  Because of the recession we are “drinking the price kool-aid.”  Beware.  Your business can provide more value than you think; but most companies neglect to convey to customers just what value they provide above the competition.  If you don’t value those attributes, your customers won’t either.  If you provide consulting or training, for example, put a price tag on it. Do you buy the cheapest car in the market? Would you skimp on a pace maker? You must focus on what customers value most.

Smart Advantage finds scores and scores of value deliverables in our clients’ companies that their sales and marketing hasn’t focused on sufficiently.  We all pay more when we fully understand that we are actually getting more, and too often, your customers are getting more than you acknowledge.

Once You Cut Prices, Can You Ever Go Back?

Serial entrepeurner Gary Shansby, CEO of San Francisco-based Partida Tequila, argues that for premium companies, discounting is a form of brand suicide. “Once you start discounting, or accepting deals, there’s no way of getting back up. In down times, there’s the impression that the simplest thing to do is discount. But when confidence returns, the consumer’s going to wonder why you want to charge $48 when just a few years back you’d sell for $30. You’re effectively telling people that your product was too expensive to begin with.”

It can be challenging to hold the line on price when your sales people are telling you “we can get this job if we lower our price.” However, the minute you lower prices to compete, you’ve repositioned your brand on a lower rung of the value ladder.

The antidote to a price war is to communicate all of the value you bring to the transaction.

Providing competitive advantage consulting to a variety of corporations, Smart Advantage links what you do best with what customers value most.  If your organization is in need of a competitive consultant, Smart Advantage helps your company uncover and tout its competitive advantage, leading your organization to reach higher profit margins by means of competing and selling while not engaging in price wars.  By creating competitive advantage, a business experiences improved sales close ratios and will see increased market share value.

What is competitive advantage?  Competitive advantage is the means by which a firm manages to keep making money and sustain its position against its competitors.

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At an era peaking with both financial crisis and meteoric technological advancements, Businesses are at a level playing field in regards to their access to different means of processes to provide them with a competitive advantage. Organizations have access to the latest means of social media marketing as well as similar limits in overall budgets, squeezing them to focus more on innovative ways to stay afloat.

Despite a large selection of external influences available, one of the most basic and cost-efficient means to positively impact a business’ bottom line lies within the way in which an organization’s leadership functions.

This kind of competitive advantage is immune to economic state, location, and technology.  An improved bottom line and a productive workforce are just some of the immediate results of healthy, positive leadership.

A Canadian study indicated the number one reason employees leave a workplace is due to poor leadership.  A high employee turnover rate is a small part of the cost of ineffective leadership.  Other consequences of ineffective leadership include lower productivity levels, higher absenteeism frequency, and higher health-care costs.

Smart Advantage, Inc. is a consulting, training, and education based company that works with businesses to uncover and tout their Competitive Advantages. If your company’s message is devoid of Competitive Advantages, then you are likely leaving sales on the table.

Smart Advantage has taught over 3,000 CEOs in over 400 industries how to uncover and use Competitive Advantage in their sales and marketing messaging.  Smart Advantage offers the only proprietary process that links what you do best with what your customers value most.

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Competitive advantages are adaptable to any kind of business, no matter the size, location or how long they’ve been around.  Small businesses without a lot of capital may have a difficult time positioning themselves against those corporate giants with plenty of resources and the ability to undercut the little guy.  Our advantage-consulting experts (ACEs) advise you to stop competing head-on with the big shots and trying to win their business.  Instead, capitalize on your strengths and bring in customers based on what you have that the other guy doesn’t.

For instance, Wal-Mart, at least for the time being, is a powerhouse it its appeal to one stop shoppers. Their competitive advantage is focused on cost leadership, and they’re able to use this strategy because they have the resources to offer lower prices and still remain afloat.  Just remember that Wal-Mart is a jack-of-all-trades, but a master of none; and they are not the place you go to for expert advice on the latest DVD player or lawnmower.

Realize that there are other ways to compete.  Differentiation is a smart advantage, which focuses on a foundation of service and product knowledge, and is not so concerned about price competition.  The idea is to build a greater understanding of your products, and instead of worrying about low prices, turn your expertise toward what you are selling, and hire a staff that shares your passion.

Be the master of your domain and customers will come to you.  Offering special attention, service and expert advice are a surefire way to help your business stand out from the others.  Define your competitive advantage.

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In today’s economy, small and big businesses are seeking every opportunity to win sales through competitive advantages. Visit SmartAdvantage.com and learn how we can help you Sustain profits that exceed the average for your industry and much more.

Do you want to…

•  Sustain profits that exceed the average
for your industry – despite the recession?

• Attract & retain customers/clients
without engaging in price wars with
your competition?

• See your sales pitch go from
“blah, blah, blah” to compelling?

If you answered “YES” to any of the above,
you will want to hear our Competitive Advantage
message before your competition does!

Competitive Advantage Services we offer:

Keynote Business Speaking
Business Consulting
Measurable Metrics
Strategic Planning
Marketing Services
Training
Customer Advisory Boards
Research

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Jaynie L. Smith announces the release of an Audio Book version of her best-selling business book Creating Competitive Advantage. The 228-page, 10-chapter book, published by Doubleday, now comes in an author-narrated digital format, as a set of five compact discs.

Creating Competitive Advantage continues to be among the top 1% of all books sold on amazon.com and bn.com. It is now in its 8th printing since 2006, and foreign rights to the book have been sold in China, India, Korea, Turkey, UK, and Croatia.

Jaynie L. Smith and her competitive advantage message were recently featured in the September issue of the magazine Bottom Line Personal. She also can be heard frequently on business radio and television interviews as an expert of how companies can uncover and market their competitive advantages to improve their profit margins.

The audio book featuring Ms. Smith’s reading of Creating Competitive Advantage can be purchased directly from the website www.smartadvantage.com. Jaynie L. Smith is the founder and President of Smart Advantage. Smart Advantage assists companies and organizations in implementing the proprietary competitive advantage process based on Ms. Smith’s book.

About Smart Advantage, Inc.

Smart Advantage, Inc. is a consultancy founded by Jaynie L. Smith, author of the best-selling business book Creating Competitive Advantage (Doubleday, 2006). Based on more than 20 years experience with Fortune 500 companies and over 30,000 hours of CEO coaching, Ms. Smith outlines a process for companies to understand, uncover, define, research, and edit their competitive advantages. Smart Advantage has refined, expanded, and licensed this process and consults with companies from Fortune 500 to mid-size.

Business Competitive Advantages -Competitive Advantages

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