4 Unfair Advantages That Make Customers Pick You Over Your Competitors

There are 4 ways to compete as a business, and if you master even just one of these, you’ll be ahead of your competitors already.

It’s not offering low prices that cut your profit margins, it’s about 4 key things that customers want when deciding who to buy from.

Let’s dive into how you can use each in your marketing & decide which one is best for you.

Competitive Advantage 1 - Competing By Using Speed

When most people think about increasing the speed it takes them to deliver a service, they confuse it with lowering the quality.

That’s not what we’re trying to do. We’re trying to offer customers a service that:

1. Doesn’t take long for them

2. You can carry out in a realistic time span

So, if you analyse on average how long it takes you to deliver your service, you can use that in your marketing.

For example, a roofing company may run an ad saying, “Your roof replaced within 2 days, just a call away.”

That headline would be focused on speed, and customers would love it for 2 reasons:

1. They value transparency and want to know what to expect (click here if you’re interested in using that in your marketing)

2. It makes them even more satisfied with your service because they had a problem solved quickly.

So if you choose to use this one (we’ll get into how you decide which of these 4 methods to use at the end), the question you should ask yourself is:“How can I do this faster than anybody else in my market?”

Competitive Advantage 2 - Competing By Reducing Risk

Customers want a product or service that is reliable with a high chance of success.

An example you can find in home businesses is using warranties after the project is completed to put the customer’s mind at ease.

But my personal favourite example comes from a real estate agent in Amsterdam:

“Your home sold within 100 days or we pay you €1500 back”

That is a solid guarantee. Not only does it reduce risk, but it focuses on speed as well!

Using guarantees and/or warranties is a great idea because they remove a major reason customers don’t buy: the risk involved.

Lots of businesses are too scared to use guarantees, but if you believe you provide a high-quality product or service, why wouldn’t you use one?

The question you ask yourself when using these is:“How do I do this more reliably than anyone else in my market?”

Competitive Advantage 3 - Competing On Price

Many businesses make the mistake of thinking “Well, if I just have cheaper prices than everyone else, I’ll attract more customers!”

Don’t do that. That’s a recipe for disaster for 3 reasons:

1. You attract low-quality customers who expect the world to be given to them for nearly free

2. You’re known as “the cheap guy” and others think you have lower quality

3. You reduce your profit margins. It’s like shooting yourself in the foot.

Instead, you have to focus on your quality and value as a business. That’s what justifies the price.

You can do this in your marketing by showing off positive reviews or using tools like before-and-after photos of your product or service in action.

The most serious customers who are looking for your product or service just want high quality. The quality and value you provide to customers should be worth the price they pay.

The question you ask yourself when using price to compete is:“How do I prove that what I’m offering is more valuable than my competitors?”

Competitive Advantage 4 - Competing With Ease

Ideally, customers want a service that requires little work from them and makes it easy for them to buy.

Going back to the real estate example, most real estate agents have the exact same offer in their marketing:“Call us today for a free valuation of your home!”

Sounds great, but most people don’t want a real estate agent to invade their privacy and look around every nook and cranny in their home.

Especially when some companies offer online valuations, which are 10X quicker and don’t require an invasion of privacy.

The less work that customers have to do, the easier it is for them to buy.

A good way to do this in your marketing is to replace “Call us” with “Fill out a form”. Some people (especially young) are scared of talking on the phone, so a quick form is more convenient for them.

The question you ask yourself with this method is:“How can I make what I’m doing easier for the customer?”

Which Competitive Advantage Should You Pick?

At the start of this article, I wrote that you only need to master one of these to be ahead of your competition.

To get started, read over your customer reviews. See what is the most common part of your product or service that is mentioned in several reviews. Now you know what customers care about most.

For some businesses, the reviews will talk about how fast your service was (Method 1 - Speed). For others, it will be how you were tidy and didn’t leave a mess (Method 4 - Ease).

Whatever it is, pick one to start with and use it in your marketing.

If you need help with creating marketing campaigns based on any of these 4 methods, click here for a free marketing analysis and we’ll help you get more clients with your marketing. No obligations, no high-pressure sales tactics.