Want to POP! Your Competitive Advantageby Steve Olsher March 11th, 2011

Want to POP! Your Competitive Advantage?

A Special Blog Post By Sam Horn

“In today’s crowded marketplace, you’re either breaking out or blending in. And blending in is for Cuisinarts, not companies.” – Sam Horn

I’m often asked “how can I, as a business person, better articulate my competitive edge when meeting face-to-face with potential investors, vendors and strategic partners.”

Well, I’m sure you’ve heard of ‘having your ducks in a row.’ Well, if you want to win buy-in to your business – you need to have your ‘W’s’ in a row.

These are the W questions – Who? What? Why? Where? When? – journalists ask to explore and explain why something is interesting or important.

If you’d like to get more clarity on your USP (Unique Selling Proposition); you might want to print out the questions below and brainstorm them with your team at your next staff meeting.

W#1. What are we offering? What is our primary product or service?

W#2. Who is our target audience? Our ideal customer? Our ultimate decision-maker?

W#3. What problem(s) do they have that our business solves? What keeps them up at night? What worries them, frustrates them, confounds them?

W#4. What do our target customers need that no one else is currently offering? What do they want that isn’t available right now?

W#5. What objections or resistance might people to have to our offerings, products and services? Why will they say, “No thanks or choose not to do business with us?”

W#6. What are we doing to address those objections so they’re a non-issue? How are we neutralizing resistance and winning buy-in from skeptics and nay-sayers?

W#7. Who are my competitors and how are we different or better than them? What do they all have in common? How do we zig where they zag? How does our organization do the opposite of the obvious?

W#8. Who are we? What are our strengths, unique abilities and niched expertise? What are our most impressive credentials? What testimonials or proof do we have of our tangible track record? What measurable results have we produced?

When you (and your employees) can answer each of the above “W” questions in 60 seconds, you will know exactly why it’s in your target customers’ best interests to do business with you.

And that, my friends, is a competitive advantage.

Sam Horn – The Intrigue Expert – is the author of POP! and Tongue Fu!®. For more information, please visit www.SamHorn.com.