SuccessTips Newsletter

April 22, 2008 

In this issue: The most profitable differentiator anyone can use 

by Eric Albertson

Word count:  585

Time to read: 1-2 minutes

No matter how good your product or service is, you will eventually be hurt by, or lose, to the competitor that uses the differentiator I am going to cover today. The good news is that anyone in any business can use this advantage to profit.

Let’s discuss tires, to make the point

Les Schwab Tire Centers (http://www.lesschwab.com/) sells a product that is available at a million other places, including the 500-pound gorilla, Costco (www.costco.com). Schwab is not the cheapest alternative, by far, but, once you have an experience with them, it is unlikely that you will ever buy tires anywhere else.

No, I am not talking just about service

Mention Les Schwab to anyone who has done business there, and you will hear a wonderful customer experience tale. And yes, their service is amazing. They literally run to your car, fix flats at no charge, give you goodies while you wait, and surprise you with bonuses when you buy. Have a problem with a purchase? Once they know about it, you no longer have a problem.

What I am talking about is the same thing that drives referrals

That is understanding your customer’s needs, setting the expectation of meeting that need, and then delivering your promise, no matter what.

For example, the Les Schwab Tire Centers (in the Western U.S.) is a company that knows that women hate just about everything to do with tires. From my point of view, they have made a promise to women to remove every irritation. With that promise made, they deliver, every time, in my experience.

It’s not just service. It’s performance

Peformance is a million simple things, such as clearly setting only expectations you can and will keep, without fail. Performance is planning and acting so that excuses are not necessary. Performance is about being in action, rather than talking. Performance is about working well with customers, peers, your superiors, and those below you.

Perfection is not performance

Performance, instead, is about excellence. In excellence, you recognize that creating a powerful future that is different from the past entails trying things that might not work. Excellence learns from its mistakes and does not mindlessly repeat them. Yes, I know, this is no small task.

The opportunity of performance

For as long as I can remember, surveys of buyers in the U.S. and Europe have reported that buyers of all stripes would pay for reliable performance first, over every other option, including price. As I recall, price rarely made the top five in these surveys. The implication is that anyone can win, and win reliably, if they maximize performance.

What you can do today

Ask your clients what their complaints and concerns are in doing business with your industry. Here is a major insight: Behind every complaint and concern is a value. Once you know that value, you have an opportunity. People buy from those that best align with their values. When that alignment is consistent, innovative, predictable and reliable, it’s called performance.

Cheers,