How To Be Different De-Commoditize Power #1
November 2nd, 2017 // 11:28 am @ Scott Manning
This week, we begin our move to make sure you give yourself the best gift ever for the Holiday Season – the assurance that you decommoditize yourself to be able to command premium fees and be seen as the exclusive business that you are.
There are many different concepts as well as strategies and more importantly actual structuring of your business in order to make sure that you are not seen as a commodity.
And I will remind you of the very best way to not be one of the terrible, cheap, no leverage or value items – that is to remember the great saying from the thought leader of his time Earl Nightingale when he said ‘if you want to be successful just look around at what everyone else is doing in your industry, field, profession, etc and do the opposite.’ In so many words, from The Strangest Secret.
And that is the fastest way to achieve real true differentiation. Commodities are copycats. You can learn and improve from others but you want to be unique. If it’s just about stuff and things and services and products and not about something bigger, greater, more meaningful, impactful, experiential and significant – then you are judged by nothing other than your prices by your customers, clients and patients.
The first de-commoditization power and pricing leverage principle is about…
BEING DIFFERENT
…than anyone else
BEING MORE THAN
…just what people pay you for
You might think how can you be ‘different’ if you do the same thing as someone else and vice versa.
Lots of ways…
In your experience.
In your customer service.
In your sales process.
In your delivery.
In little ways and nuances.
In big ways and dramatic changes.
One of my great friends and important mentors, Dan Kennedy, always said make a list of all the things you don’t like about what you do – and change them.
As long as it is not illegal, no one tells you how to run, practice, set up, operate and do YOUR business.
Of course, this is what I do every day for my Dentists. If they want to work one less day, then we do it. If they want to sleep in and work later, then we do it. If they want to remove insurance, then we do it. If they want to focus on a certain type of dentistry and remove the others, then we do it.
It is about what you want first before it can be about what anyone else wants. Your vision matters.
But that will only get you so far – once you have that you now have to think exclusively and thoroughly about the customers’ perceptions about who you are, what you do, how you do it and so on and so forth.
The best way is to be what I call “obviously different.” This means that someone can describe how you are different from others. This means that there are ideally a few but certainly some-one-thing that you do that is completely and uniquely different from the norm, the average, the status quo.
One way to visualize or actually practice this (which I talk about often), is the 10 Business Test. I encourage my Doctors and their teams to go step by step through the exercise that a if a patient called, visited, experienced, become a patient at 10 different offices for every single part of their practice interaction and engagement with patients – what would make them stand out as the #1 out of all 10 offices.
You can do that for your business.
The key to not being a commodity begins by being seen as different and more than anyone else – more valuable – more unique – more comprehensive – more whatever – fill in the blank to what you want.
This should be a really invigorating activity for you to think about and go to work on in your business.
List out all the things you are already doing different than others. Think through the way your customers perceive you as compared to others. Hey, you could even ask them, survey, assess, do a focus group, get feedback.
And to really get the most out of this week’s message as we begin our deep dive into making you as valuable to your customers in their own minds as you think you are to them… you want to turn this into a catalyst for going above and beyond and doing things that you have always wanted to do or maybe never thought about doing and really step it up.
The best way to never have people make their decision on price is make what you are incomparable to anything and anyone else. And that is exactly what we are going to be moving into next week.
How to never have to discount (without purpose and strategy) and to break free from being shopped by price.
Category : Blog
