Talk about the number of completed projects, the volume of products released, publish successful cases. It is very important not to slide into self-praise, but to show how much real value your products or services have brought.

Are your services useful? Tell about it!

Post testimonials from real customers with links to their social media profiles/company websites to potential client could get confirmation. 90% of people won't verify the authenticity of these reviews, but being open on your part will build their trust.

High level of quality/service

And the standard continuation: "Our company employs highly qualified specialists who have undergone special training."

At all qualification of specialists does not speak about the level of service, unless your employees were trained in courses "How to lick a client."

Take a cue from the hotels for which they are designed international standards service. A person, entering a three-star hotel, already roughly imagines what awaits him: a room with an area of ​​​​at least 12 square meters. m, free bottled water, bathroom with towels, soap and toilet paper.

What awaits the client in your company?

Write to him how quickly they will repair or deliver the goods. Explain how a personal manager will work on solving his problem - step by step, from receiving an application to the result. Convince him that even after completing the order you are always ready to help.

Imagine that you are calling a company about a major contract, and the sales rep replies, "We're having lunch, call me later." And hangs up. Will you call him back or find another supplier?

If the company's employees are not polite and friendly, your "high level of service" is worthless.

And if you want to brag about the professionalism of your employees, tell us about them separately: where they got their qualifications, how long they have been working in their specialty and what they can do.

Individual approach

This expression has not convinced potential customers for a long time, it is so hackneyed. Most often, they simply don’t notice him, and if they notice him, they grin skeptically, mentally saying “well, well, of course.”

Don't believe? Look at your competitors' websites - 99 times out of 100 you will find this phrase, if not on the "About" page, then on some other.

Replace common phrases with specific information.

List everything you rely on when developing a project or completing an order. Explain what you mean by the concept of "individual approach".

For sure, put the fulfillment of the wishes of the customer in the first place. But you understand that others do the same. Agree, it is difficult to imagine a designer who makes a red kitchen for clients who dream of green.

write, What is included in your customer relationship system? →

• How do you meet the needs of each client, depending on the characteristics of their tasks. What exactly do you consider when developing a project or completing an order.

• Which additional terms cooperation at the discretion of the client you can include in standard contract: different payment schemes, individual discounts, delivery, assembly.

• How broad is the authority of the client who wants to participate in the process or observe it with the possibility of adjustment. At what point wishes are no longer accepted.

Low prices and/or great deals

Another "nothing" stamp. And if you consider that not only low, but also high prices can drive sales with equal success, then this advantage becomes completely useless.

Instead of empty words use honest numbers.

For example: we offer Scandinavian-style kitchens at a price of 20,000 rubles per square meter, the basic package includes standard sections, a countertop, a sink, and a dish dryer.

Or: in January, we reduce the cost of the Shikardos collection by 30% - when ordering a kitchen 3 meters long, you save 25,000 rubles.

Most often about low prices ah say those companies that have nothing else to hook the client. Do not deny the buyer the minimum mathematical ability. Believe me, he will do a great job comparing prices on his own.

When choosing a product, the buyer compares several alternative (not identical!) Options:

• wooden houses - with brick and aerated concrete
• white gold jewelry - with silver and platinum
• facial mesotherapy - with sculptural massage and plasma lifting.

Make a comparison table, according to the results of which your offer wins as the safest, fastest, most durable (warm, prestigious, comfortable - pick the advantages of your product or service). And then the price will fade into the background.

A wide range of

These 18 characters without spaces will only become an advantage when the client sees them as a solution to their problems →

• The ability to choose from certain assortment group . You can offer dozens or even hundreds of gold rings, but the buyer is interested in a specific size. And if it does not appear on the showcase of an online store, for the client the slogan about the richness of the assortment will remain zilch. Initially, a loyal visitor will go to competitors next time, so as not to be disappointed again.

• Opportunity to purchase related products- a lid for a frying pan, a brush for collecting animal hair - for a vacuum cleaner, wipes for cleaning the screen - for a monitor. This is beneficial for both parties. The client buys everything in one place and saves on delivery, the seller increases profits by 5-15%.

• Possibility to order a turnkey service. When you talk about a wide range of company services, list them. Specify which of them you provide separately, and which - only in the complex. For example, a consulting company performs naming exclusively as part of a multi-stage company registration service, while assistance in preparing documents may be outside of it.

Often a list of useless benefits is placed in the "About Us" section. Already fixed? Great! Now check if you used all the methods of persuading customers on the "About" page. Look for arguments that are right on target.

And in the comments, admit it, often professional professionals with an individual approach work in your companies? 😉

About the author.

However, when making any changes, it is necessary to adhere to one of the main principles of marketing: first of all, when creating or changing a product, it is necessary to take into account the desires and interests of the consumer.

This principle is the first step towards a successful and prosperous business. But one attitude to consumers is not enough, it is necessary to create a certain competitive advantage that will allow you to overtake competitors in the chosen niche.

Creating an advantage

The concept of "competitive advantage" means an exclusively positive difference between a product and the products of competitive organizations. It is this advantage that is the factor by which the consumer chooses this product, and not the product of competing companies. A competitive advantage can be, for example, the quality of a product or service.

When creating a competitive advantage, it is important to adhere to two main principles:

• This advantage should be really important for the consumer;
• The consumer must see and feel the competitive advantage.

Despite such a great efficiency in creating a competitive advantage, it must be remembered that competitors will still determine this advantage over time and apply it to their products.

However, as practice shows, this time is enough to recoup the costs, get significant profits and overtake direct competitors.

Creating a competitive advantage should not take huge company budgets, so it is necessary to use a certain methodology that allows not only creating a competitive advantage, but also significantly reducing the costs of this process.

In this methodology, four main stages can be distinguished, each of which is an integral part of the entire process of creating a product advantage:

• Segmentation;
• Specialization;
• Differentiation;
• Concentration.

Segmentation

In this case, the concept of a segment hides end consumers who are looking for one or another type of product with certain parameters. In other words, each consumer has certain needs and interests, based on which he chooses the necessary products. Thus, all consumers can be divided into groups of requests.

Carrying out (individuals), as parameters of the segmentation process, signs of gender, age characteristics, place of residence, presence of vehicle And so on.

In addition, sometimes more detailed consumer data is used, that is, targeting is carried out. On the other hand, consumers can be organizations to which products are supplied. In this case, segmentation is carried out according to the organization's belonging to a certain type: store, dealer, manufacturer, etc.

One of the main segmentation parameters in this case is the size of the company, knowing which, you can easily determine the total amount of products passing through the organization.

After determining the signs of segmentation and identifying the future competitive advantage, it is necessary to apply the usual marketing tools to promote the product: advertising products, direct introduction of the product in the company, sending letters asking to purchase the product, and other methods.

Of course, all of these methods have a big problem: there is no guarantee that the company will decide to purchase the product. In this regard, there is a more practical way - the implementation of consumer segmentation based on the problems present in this area.

Surely, in every business there is a bottleneck that arises from the fact that consumers cannot find what they need. For example, customers of a butcher's shop want a certain type of meat to cost not 300 rubles, but 250.

Or that the delivery of pizza home was carried out not in one hour, but in 30 minutes. Thus, segmentation is carried out according to unsatisfied consumer needs.

It is quite easy to evaluate such requests, for example, by the usual survey of potential consumers. Polls have always given the most effective result. After analyzing the results of the survey, the most acute problem is selected and a competitive advantage is built on its basis. Thus, the promoted products will be associated with the target audience precisely with this competitive advantage.

Specialization

Identifying problems in a particular market segment is only half the trouble. It is necessary to decide on one problem that needs to be eliminated and made into an advantage. However, this is not as easy as it seems. The choice of a specific problem for its further solution depends on a number of factors, which include money, availability certain conditions, staff, time.

In particular, time, money and personnel are the determining criteria in choosing a particular problem. Indeed, with a large budget, an unlimited amount of time and specialized personnel, any problems can be solved. Therefore, before choosing, it is necessary to correctly assess the available resources.

An equally important step is to assess the importance of this problem. The relevance and severity of a particular problem determine the success of the competitive advantage. Don't pick a problem that other organizations can easily fix. And, of course, we should not forget about the eternal problems that exist in every market segment.

It's about price, staff and range. Each consumer always wants the purchased products to be of the highest quality and cheapest in a huge assortment, and service staff did everything to ensure that he was satisfied and arrived in a good mood.

These problems cannot be completely and forever eradicated, since nothing is perfect. But you can reduce the severity of the problem by increasing the quality, reducing the cost of products, expanding the range and recruiting qualified personnel.

Evaluating all the above factors and criteria, you need to choose the most appropriate problem that you can handle. At the same time, it is important to remember that more acute problem, the more effective will be the creation of a competitive advantage, and the longer this advantage will last. In this matter, the difficulty of the whole process of creating a competitive advantage is only a plus, and not vice versa.

Differentiation

Having decided on the problem that needs to be solved, that is, after identifying a competitive advantage, it is necessary to start advertising. The stage of differentiation as a whole consists in the implementation of various kinds of advertising.

At the same time, it is necessary to advertise not just a company, service or product, but to advertise with an emphasis on the selected competitive advantage. Thus, the consumer will know that this particular product has a certain advantage, which he has been looking for so long from other companies.

However, it is not prohibited to use various images and graphic techniques, slogans and quotes, the main thing is that the emphasis is on the competitive advantage of products.

But so that it is not short, since all consumers have different inertness in the perception of advertising, that is, a certain period for which the target audience get used to the advertising material. This period is different for all groups.

Thus, individuals the inertia of perception of advertising is usually up to 6 months, and for organizations - up to several tens of months. Of course, this indicator depends on the specifics of the promoted product and the business as a whole.

Concentration

The stage of concentration is no less important in creating a competitive advantage, since it is negligence, relaxation and absent-mindedness that can cause failure. For the most effective creation competitive advantage is recommended to make this task paramount by informing all employees of the company. It is this pace and daily work over this problem guarantee the continued success of the products.

Do not forget about re-segmentation, which is recommended to be carried out annually. It will not only help identify new problems in a particular market segment, but will also determine the current state of affairs in relation to the previously selected competitive advantage, which will allow you to more accurately assess the company's strategy in the market and draw the right conclusions.

Combining all the stages, and competently performing each of them, it is important to remember that creating a competitive advantage is a rather complex and time-consuming process that requires considerable financial and time costs. Therefore, the stages of segmentation and specialization are so important for choosing a problem and assessing the possibilities for solving it.

If there is a financial opportunity, it is often useful to re-segment, but in your own region, in the region of the manufacturer. With a professional and competent approach, the company takes a significant step forward due to its competitive advantage.

The world does not stand still, information is constantly updated, and market participants are in search of marketing ideas, ways of doing business, new views on their product. Any business is tested for strength by competitors, therefore, when developing a development strategy, it is reasonable to take into account their influence, market share, position and behavior.

What is competitive advantage

Competitive advantage is a certain superiority of a company or product over other market participants, which is used to strengthen its position when reaching the planned profit level. Competitive advantage is achieved by providing the client with more services, more quality products, the relative cheapness of goods and other qualities.

Competitive advantage for business provides:

– prospects for long-term growth;

– work stability;

- getting a higher rate of profit from the sale of goods;

- creating barriers for new players to enter the market.

Note that competitive advantages can be found always and for any type of business. To do this, you should conduct a competent analysis of your product and the product of a competitor.

What are the types of competitive advantages

What allows you to create competitive advantages for business? There are 2 options for this. First of all, the product itself can provide competitive advantages. One type of competitive advantage is the price of goods. Buyers often prefer to buy a product only because of its cheapness relative to other offers with similar properties. Due to the cheapness of the product, it can be purchased even if it does not represent a special consumer value for buyers.

The second competitive advantage is differentiation. For example, when a product has distinctive features which makes the product more attractive to the consumer. In particular, differentiation can be achieved due to characteristics that are not related to consumer properties. For example, due to the brand.

If a company creates competitive advantages for its product, it can only highlight its position in the market. This can be achieved by monopolizing part of the market. True, such a situation is contrary to market relations, since the buyer is deprived of the opportunity to choose. However, in practice, many companies not only provide themselves with such a competitive advantage of the product, but also retain it for a long time.

4 criteria for assessing competitive advantages

Utility. The competitive advantage offered should be beneficial to the company's operations and should also enhance profitability and strategy development.

Uniqueness. Competitive advantage should distinguish the product from competitors, and not repeat them.

Security. It is important to legally protect your competitive advantage and make it as difficult as possible to copy it.

Value for the target audience of the business.

Competitive Advantage Strategies

1. Cost leadership. Thanks to this strategy, the company generates revenues above the industry average due to the low cost of its production, despite high competition. When a company receives a higher rate of return, it can reinvest these funds to support the product, inform about it, or outperform competitors due to lower prices. Low costs provide protection from competitors, as revenue is maintained in conditions that other market participants are not available. Where can you use a cost leadership strategy? This strategy is applied when economies of scale or when the prospect of reaching lower costs in long term. This strategy is chosen by companies that cannot compete in the industry at the product level and work with a differentiation approach, providing distinctive characteristics for the product. This strategy will be effective with a high proportion of consumers who are price sensitive.

• Information about competitors: 3 rules for collecting and using it

This strategy often requires product unification and simplification to facilitate production processes, increasing production volumes. It may also require a high initial investment in equipment and technology to reduce costs. For the effectiveness of this strategy, careful control of labor processes, design and development of products, with a clear organizational structure, is necessary.

Cost leadership can be achieved through certain opportunities:

- limited access of the enterprise to obtaining cheap resources;

- the company has the opportunity to reduce production costs due to the accumulated experience;

– management production facilities the company is built on the principle that promotes economies of scale;

- the company provides for scrupulous management of the level of its reserves;

– strict control over invoices and production costs refusing small operations;

– availability of technology for the cheapest production in the industry;

– standardized production of the company;

2 steps to building a competitive advantage

Alexander Maryenko, Project Manager of A Dan Dzo Group of Companies, Moscow

There are no clear instructions for creating a competitive advantage, taking into account the individuality of each market. However, in such a situation, you can be guided by a certain logical algorithm:

Determine the target audience that will buy your product or influence this decision.

Determine the real need of such people related to your services or products, which are not yet satisfied by suppliers.

2. Differentiation. The company, when working with this strategy, provides unique properties for its product that have importance for the target audience. Therefore, they allow you to set a higher price on the product compared to competitors.

Product leadership strategy requires:

- the product must have unique properties;

- opportunity to build a reputation High Quality product;

– high qualification employees;

- ability to protect competitive advantage.

The advantage lies in the ability to sell the product at higher prices than the industry average, avoiding direct competition. Thanks to this strategy, it is possible to achieve better commitment and loyalty to the brand, under the conditions of competent assortment building, the presence of competitive advantages.

Risks or disadvantages of using a differentiated marketing strategy:

- a significant difference in prices is possible, due to which even the unique qualities of the product will not attract a sufficient number of buyers;

- the product may lose its uniqueness when copying the advantages of cheaper products.

This strategy is used for saturated markets by companies that are ready for high investment in promotion. There is no need to talk about low cost - it will be higher than the market average. However, this is offset by the ability to sell the product at higher prices.

3. Niche leadership or focus. The strategy involves protection from major competitors and substitute products. In this case, it is possible to achieve a high rate of return due to more effective satisfaction of the needs of a narrow audience of consumers. This strategy can be built on competitive advantages of any type - on the breadth of the proposed range or the lower price of the product.

In this case, the company is limited in market share, but it does not need significant investments for product development, which is a chance for the survival of small enterprises.

Risks and disadvantages of using a focus strategy:

- there is a high probability of large differences in prices for goods compared to the leading brands of the market, which may scare away their target audience;

- the attention of large market participants is switched to niche segments in which the company operates;

- a serious danger of reducing the difference between the needs of the industry and the niche market.

Where to Use a Niche Leadership Strategy? Working with this strategy is recommended for small companies. It is most effective when the market is saturated, there are strong players, with high costs or non-competitiveness in terms of costs in comparison with market leaders.

Three stages of service strategy

I stage. Innovation. When one of the market participants introduces something new in terms of customer service. The company in this period stands out, given the presence of a new competitive advantage.

II stage. Addictive. The proposed service is becoming familiar to consumers, and an analogue is gradually being introduced in the activities of competitors.

III stage. Requirement. For consumers, this proposal becomes an integral element of a service or product, moving into the category of standards.

How to check the level of service in your company

• Conducting informal surveys. The CEO and other managers need to understand the opinion of consumers about the proposed service.
• Conducting formal surveys (focus groups). It will be rational to involve both consumers and representatives of all departments of your company for these events.
• Engage third-party consultants to interview company employees. Thanks to external consultants, the importance of answers increases (with more candid answers).

How to improve the service

Tatiana Grigorenko, managing partner of 4B Solutions, Moscow

Consider general tips for improving the service in the work of companies.

1. Surprise, influence emotions. Usually visitors in the office are offered tea bags or instant coffee. We decided to pleasantly surprise our customers - the visitor is offered a choice of 6 types of professionally prepared coffee, 6 excellent varieties of tea with branded chocolate for dessert.

2. Break the rules. In the modern market it is inefficient to be like everyone else, you need to be better than the rest.

3. Listen to your customers. Do you need to ask your customers what they would be interested in?

How to create competitive advantage

When developing a competitive advantage, there are nine criteria for a successful option to consider:

1) Uniqueness.

2) Long-term. Competitive advantage should be of interest for at least three years.

3) Uniqueness.

4) Credibility.

5) Attractiveness.

6) Have Reasons to Believe (a basis for trust). Concrete grounds that will make buyers believe.

7) Be better. Buyers need to understand why this product is better than others.

8) Have the opposite. There must be a complete opposite in the market. Otherwise, it will not be a competitive advantage.

9) Brevity. Must fit in a sentence of 30 seconds.

Step #1. Compiling a list of all benefits

The benefits of the product are sought as follows:

– ask customers what competitive advantages they hope to get through your product;

- make a detailed list of all the properties that the product has, based on the characteristics from the marketing mix model:

1) Product

What can be said about the product:

– functionality;

– brand symbolism: logo, name, form style;

– appearance: packaging, design;

- the required quality of the product: from the position of the target market;

– service and support;

- assortment, variety.

2) Price

What can be said about the price:

– pricing strategy market entry;

– retail price: the selling price of the product must necessarily be related to the desired retail price, only if the company does not become the last link in the overall distribution chain.

- pricing for different sales channels; different prices are assumed, depending on the specific link in the supply chain, a specific supplier;

- package pricing: with the simultaneous sale of several products of the company at special prices;

– policy regarding the conduct of promotional events;

– Availability of seasonal promotions or discounts;

- Possibility of price discrimination.

3) Place of sale

It is necessary to have a product on the market in the right place so that the buyer can see it and purchase it at the right time.

What can be said about the sale meta:

- sales markets, or in which the sale of goods is planned;

– distribution channels for the sale of goods;

– type and conditions of distribution;

– conditions and rules for the display of goods;

- Logistics and inventory management issues.

4) Promotion

Promotion in this case involves everything Marketing communications to attract the attention of the target audience to the product, with the formation of knowledge about the product and key properties, the formation of the need to purchase the product and repeat purchases.

What can be said about the promotion:

– promotion strategy: pull or push. With the Push strategy, it is supposed to push the product through the trade chain by stimulating intermediaries and sales staff. Pull - "pulling" products through the distribution chain by stimulating consumers, the final demand of their product;

– target values ​​of knowledge, brand loyalty and consumption by their target audience;

– necessary marketing budget, SOV in segment;

- the geography of their communication;

– communication channels for contact with consumers;

– participation in specialized shows and events;

- brand media strategy

– PR-strategy;

– promotions for the next year, events aimed at sales promotion.

5) People

– employees who represent your product and company;

– sales personnel in contact with the target consumers of the product;

– consumers who are “opinion leaders” in their category;

- manufacturers, on which the quality and price of the goods may depend;

– this group also includes privileged consumer groups, including VIP clients and loyal customers who generate sales for the company.

What can you say about working with people:

- programs for the formation of motivation, with the development of relevant competencies and skills among employees;

– methods of working with people on whom the opinion of the consumer audience depends;

– education and loyalty programs for their sales staff;

- Methods for collecting feedback.

6) Process

This one applies to the service market and the B2B market. Under the "process" refers to the interaction of the company and consumers. It is this interaction that is the basis of buying on the market with the formation of consumer loyalty.

• Unique Selling Proposition: Examples, Development Tips

You can talk about programs to improve the process of providing services to your target customers. The goal is to provide the most comfortable conditions for buyers when purchasing and using the offered service.

7) Physical environment

This also applies to the service market and B2B. This term describes what surrounds the buyer during the purchase of the service.

Step #2. Rank all the benefits

To evaluate the list, a three-point scale of the importance of characteristics is best suited:

1 point - the benefit of this characteristic for target consumers is of no value;

2 points - the benefit is not primary, which stimulates the purchase of goods in the first place;

3 points - the received benefit is one of the most significant properties of the offered service.

Step #3. Compare list of benefits with competitors

The resulting list of characteristics should be compared with its competitors according to two principles: the presence of this property in a competitor, whether the condition is better for a competitor or for you.

Step number 4. Look for absolute competitive advantages

Among the sources of absolute competitive advantages, it should be noted:

- the product is unique in one or several properties;

– uniqueness by combination of properties;

- special components of the product composition, a unique combination of ingredients;

– certain actions are performed better, more efficiently and quickly;

– features appearance, form, packaging, method of sale or delivery;

– creation and implementation of innovations;

– unique technologies, methods for creating a product, patents;

– qualification of personnel and the uniqueness of its human capital;

- the ability to ensure the minimum cost in their industry, while assuming a higher profit;

– special conditions sales, after-sales service for consumers;

- access to limited raw materials, resources.

Step number 5. Look for "false" competitive advantages

First mover. Declare the properties of competitors' products first, while they have not yet informed their target audience about them;

Efficiency indicator. Creating your own performance evaluation indicator;

Curiosity and interest. You can stand out thanks to a factor that is not considered decisive when buying, but will allow you to attract the attention of the target audience.

Step number 6. Make a development and control plan

After identifying a competitive advantage, you need to form two further marketing action plans - a plan to develop your competitive advantage over the next few years and a plan to maintain the relevance of the presented advantage.

How to analyze current competitive advantages

Stage 1. Make a list of evaluation parameters

Create a list of key competitive advantages of your product and competitors.

For evaluation, a three-point scale is best suited, according to which are put:

1 point = the parameter is not fully reflected in the competitive advantages of the product;

2 points = the parameter is not fully reflected in the competitive advantage;

3 points = the parameter is fully reflected.

Stage 3. Make a development plan

Form your plan of action aimed at improving the competitive advantage of the company. It is necessary to plan improvements on the points of assessment, which were given less than three points.

How to develop competitive advantages

Competitive behavior in the market can be of three types:

Creative. Implementation of measures to create new components of market relations in order to obtain a competitive advantage in the market;

Adaptive. Accounting for innovative changes in production, ahead of competitors in terms of modernization of production;

Providing-guaranteeing. The basis is the desire to maintain and stabilize the obtained competitive advantages and market positions in the long term by supplementing the assortment, improving quality, and additional services to consumers.

The duration of retention of competitive advantages depends on:

source of competitive advantage. Can be a competitive advantage of high and low order. The low order advantage is represented by the possibility of using cheap raw materials, work force, components, materials, fuel and energy resources. At the same time, competitors can easily achieve low-order advantages by copying, searching for their sources of these advantages. The advantage of cheap labor can also lead to negative consequences for the enterprise. With low salaries for repairmen, drivers, they can be poached by competitors. The advantages of a high order are the excellent reputation of the company, specially trained personnel, production and technical base.

The number of clear sources of competitive advantage in the enterprise. A greater number of competitive advantages at the enterprise will seriously complicate the tasks of its pursuers-competitors;

Constant modernization of production.

How to survive the crisis and maintain competitive advantages

Alexander Idrisov, Managing Partner, StrategyPartners, Moscow

1. Keep your finger on the pulse of events. Some of the employees should collect and analyze information about the state and trends of the market, how these trends can affect the business, taking into account the study consumer preferences, demand dynamics, data on investors and competitors.

2. Develop the most pessimistic forecast for your company.

3. Focus on paying customers.

4. Focus on a narrow range of tasks. You need to carefully study the business model of your company. This does not mean that you need to abolish all areas of your activity. But it is worth focusing on a narrow range of tasks, abandoning non-core tasks or areas that can be outsourced.

• Reframing, or How to deal with customer objections

5. Consider teaming up with competitors. Many companies are now ready for alliances with competitors on mutually beneficial terms.

6. Maintain relationships with potential investors. A particularly important condition during a crisis is that you must not lose touch with investors, it is better to activate them if possible.

Information about the author and company

Alexander Maryenko, Project Manager of A Dan Dzo Group of Companies, Moscow. Graduated from the Faculty of Finance of the Nizhny Novgorod state university. Participated in projects (more than 10, of which six - as a manager) aimed at increasing the profitability of companies' businesses and solving their systemic problems.

John Shoal, President of ServiceQualityInstitute, Minneapolis (Minnesota, USA). It is considered the founder of the service strategy. At the age of 25, he founded a firm specializing in educating companies about a culture of service. Author of five bestsellers on the topic of service, translated into 11 languages ​​and sold in more than 40 countries.

ServiceQualityInstitute formed by John Shoal in 1972. Specializes in the development and implementation of service strategies in companies. More than 2 million people have been trained by ServiceQualityInstitute specialists. The main office is located in Minneapolis, branches - around the world (in 47 countries), their share is 70% of the total number of representative offices of the company. In Russia, ServiceQualityInstitute and John Shoal are represented by ServiceFirst.

Tatiana Grigorenko, managing partner of 4B Solutions, Moscow.

4B Solutions Company founded in 2004. Provides outsourcing and consulting services. Areas of specialization - improvement of customer service systems, anti-crisis management, professional legal and accounting business support. The staff of the company is over 20 people. Among the clients are the Association of Business Aviation, Triol Corporation, Rafamet Machine Tool Plant (Poland), ANCS Group, IFR Monitoring, MediaArtsGroup, Gaastra chain of boutiques.

Alexander Idrisov, Managing Partner of StrategyPartners, Moscow.

strategy partners. Field of activity: strategic consulting. Form of organization: LLC. Location: Moscow. Number of staff: about 100 people. Main clients (completed projects): Atlant-M, Atlant Telecom, Vostok, GAZ, MTS, Press House, Razgulay, Rosenergoatom, Russian Machines, Talosto, "Tractor Plants", "Uralsvyazinform", "Tsaritsyno", publishing houses "Enlightenment", "Eksmo", Ministry information technologies and Communications of the Russian Federation, the Ministry of Regional Development of the Russian Federation, the Port of Murmansk, Rosprirodnadzor, the administrations of the Arkhangelsk, Nizhny Novgorod, Tomsk regions and the Krasnoyarsk Territory, the Avantix company.

In the article we will talk about the likely areas of competitive advantages using the examples of world-class companies, consider the features of creating business advantages in different industries: in the banking sector, in the tourism and hotel markets, we will separately tell about the specifics of creating competitive advantages for wholesale and retail stores. retail taking into account current global trends.

1. Universal for everyone
2. Advantages in the field of trade

Universal for everyone

Let's start our list of examples of competitive advantage with 12 best practices for creating competitive advantage, which are prepared by analyzing leading industries, global brands and large markets. The point of all the examples outlined below is that there is no single correct formula for creating competitive advantage. Any market can be beaten. It is important to find that feature of the business that will be able to provide the highest level of profit for the company.

Research and innovation

The IT branch is the most technologically equipped business area. Each player in this market strives to become a leader in innovative solutions and developments. In this industry, those who set the pace for the development of innovations and technologies are leading and making super profits. Apple and Sony are a striking example of two companies that have achieved leadership in the IT market through the use of innovation as a sustainable competitive advantage.

brand awareness

Global recognition, fame and reverence for the brand has allowed companies such as Coca-Cola and Virgin to maintain their market share and dominate the market for many years. High brand awareness and a positive brand identity have also reduced the cost for Virgin to capture new parts of the market.

Corporate reputation

The highest level corporate reputation can also serve as a source of competitive advantage in the market. Price Waterhouse (consulting and auditing) and Berkshire Hathaway (investment, insurance) have used this competitive advantage to establish world-class status for their companies.

Patents

Patented technologies are assets that can provide a company with a long-term competitive advantage. In world practice, methods of buying companies due to the ownership of patents and other protected technologies are widely used. General Electric is known for becoming one of the most powerful companies in the world through its ownership of patented designs.

Economies of scale

Dangote Group has become one of the leading manufacturing conglomerates in Africa due to its own ability to create products in large quantities and keep prices uniform throughout the trading area.

Rapid access to reverse capital

In world practice, JSCs win over personal companies thanks to its own ability to attract the highest level of investment in a very small amount of time. For example, Oracle has raised investments to buy more than 50 companies in just 5 years.

barriers to entry

Restrictions from the country for rivals, protectionist policies of the country can serve as a competitive advantage for local companies. For example, Telmex (telecommunications company, Mexico) or Chevron (energy, USA).

The highest quality product and level of service

The highest level of service is always a strong competitive advantage of the product. IKEA has gained a strong position in the market by being able to provide the highest product features at a low cost and the highest level of after-sales service.

Exclusive

Coscharis Group has taken the lead in the Nigerian market by holding exclusive rights to distribute BMW vehicles throughout West Africa.

Elasticity

The ability to quickly adapt to market changes has provided Microsoft with a leading position in the global software market.

Speed ​​and time

Concentration of all efforts on achieving top speed and reduced turnaround times have given companies like FedEx and Domino Pizza a growing and solid foothold in the industry.

Low prices

The low price strategy and the ability to maintain, strengthen and develop it provided the Wall-Mart retail chain with world leadership and the highest level of capitalization of the company.

Database processing improvements

GTBank, AT&T, Google, Facebook have achieved world leadership due to perfect technologies and advances in the field of processing and managing large amounts of information.

Advantages in the banking services market

IN this section we will offer the main tips for developing the competitive advantages of companies in the banking sector. The weakening of the economies of European states in the modern world, the increase in the level of volatility in the world economy leads to the need to revise the basis of the competitive advantages of the monetary sector. In 2013-2015, it will be more profitable and vital for the banking sector to focus on developing the following competitive advantages:

• increase in return on capital
• achieving a leading position in profitability in one or more areas of banking activity (in other words, the transition to specialization and providing the best interest rates for narrow market niches)
• improvement of banking services, speed and convenience of transactions by updating and simplifying business processes
• achieving leadership in safety, reliability and asset protection
• development of a mobile Internet bank and an increase in the technological level of service provision
• making shopping easier and lowering commissions with bank cards(including the creation of payment cancellation guarantees in the event of negligent fulfillment of sales contracts - following the example of the PayPall payment system)

Advantages in the hotel services market

In order to select the right competitive advantage, be sure to benchmark your service delivery criteria. hotel business and rivals. More successful examples competitive advantages for the hotel business:

• service level leadership
• low cost advantage (subject to the ability to generate higher profits than competitors)
• provision of free meals or other additional services
• the most profitable loyalty programs that encourage repeat purchases and more frequent introduction of hotel services
• comfortable location of the hotel for certain groups of clients
• availability of all necessary additional services (conference room, wi-fi, web, swimming pool, beauty salon, restaurant, etc.)
• a unique style of decoration and hotel service, allowing the consumer to immerse themselves in a completely new environment

Advantages in the tourism market

In order to select the right competitive advantage, be sure to compare the criteria for the provision of services by your company and rivals. More successful examples of competitive advantages for the tourism business:

• service level leadership
• focusing on the quality of service for certain customer groups
• the ability to set low prices (subject to the existence of the ability to obtain higher profits in comparison with competitors)
• ease of use of the service and minimization of client time
• the most profitable loyalty programs that encourage repeat purchases
• leadership in one of the types of tourism (see the example of tourism market segmentation)
• availability of all necessary related services
• most noteworthy travel programs
• Availability mobile application and the highest technological effectiveness of the service
• most profitable flaming tours

Advantages in trading

More successful examples of competitive advantages for the trade industry (for example, retail store): breadth of assortment, exclusivity of sales in a certain area, the ability to set low prices, leadership in service during the warranty period and in after-sales service, the presence of free prizes for the buyer, leadership in the attractiveness of promotional offers, leadership in the quality, freshness, modernity of products sold; staff competence; ease of choice, convenience of choice and saving time for the buyer; business computerization and the availability of web trading; the most profitable loyalty programs; professional advice on choosing products for the buyer; convenience of the location of the retail outlet.

Marketers when promoting goods and services, as a rule, exalt their merits. But in a highly competitive environment, this is not enough. Production Capabilities of competing companies are approximately the same, so the fight for the consumer is won by the one who spends money not so much on unique technologies as on meeting the needs of customers.

In this article you will read:

• Where is the “center of gravity” for business and why should it be shifted
• How to ensure effective use and assessment of the competitive advantages of the enterprise
• How to increase sales when the market is stagnating
• How to Quadruple Revenue with Pass-and-Link Adoption

Leveraging Competitive Advantages with a competent approach, it ensures the success of the company. However, the main difficulty in this matter is effective evaluation competitive advantages of the enterprise, the purpose of which is to correct definition"center of gravity".

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Customers choose not the product itself, but rather what accompanies the purchase - intangible, but important values ​​(trust in the brand, reliability of delivery, quality of service, etc.). To understand how well organized the use of competitive advantages in your company, ask yourself three questions.

1. Do you spend most of your costs - on production and R&D, or on attracting and retaining customers?

2. Why do consumers value your company the most?

3. Your competitive advantage is based on the product itself or on effective interaction with buyers?

By answering these questions and understanding where the “center of gravity” of your company is compared to other players in the market, you can determine the degree of your competitiveness and the main vector of business development. It is important to remember one thing: those companies that have not yet had time to reorient themselves to consumer values ​​will soon face product depersonalization, lower revenues, an outflow of customers and a decrease in influence in the industry. And those firms that can shift the "center of gravity" from the product to the consumer will become leaders.

Example 1. Added value of a product

Nestlé has been a leader in the coffee industry for many years. However, at the end of the 20th century, competing products became similar to each other, and consumers of instant coffee stopped paying attention to brands. In the struggle for buyers, other major players - Tesco, Procter & Gamble, Starbucks, etc. - waged a price war among themselves and sought to lure coffee lovers to themselves in various ways.

Despite fierce competition, the new CEO of Nestlé decided to increase sales growth from 2% to 4%. It was impossible to do this at the expense of the existing product - then the management created new product with added value.

What are consumers willing to pay for? In 1974, the company acquired a patent for the production of the Nespresso coffee machine and for 25 years brought this system to perfection, eliminating shortcomings and bringing it to the market. Until the beginning of the 21st century, this product was not widely in demand. However, when a new consumer trend appeared on the market - gourmet coffee - Nestlé decided that this particular product would help strengthen its position in the industry and overtake competitors.

• Information about competitors: 3 rules for collecting and using it

Any owner of a coffee machine could brew quality espresso at home using aluminum capsules. Thanks to this, it was not necessary to constantly clean the machine from the remnants of ground coffee. This became the additional customer value for which buyers were willing to pay.

How to position a new product. They decided to present the coffee machine as a premium product for making coffee at home. This approach was unusual for a company that usually in large numbers sold consumer goods to retail chains and at a low cost, using wide advertising campaigns. However, to develop a new market, it was necessary to change not only the distribution of the product, but also the interaction with customers.

Coffee machines could be purchased in large shopping malls and specialized stores household appliances. However, the capsules were sold only in the Nespresso Club - a community of users who registered on a specialized site. Due to the fact that each buyer left his contact information when ordering, the company was able to manage consumer behavior and find out the answer to the main marketing question: who, when and at what price buys a product?

The company's executives are confident that it is the consumer club (12 million users) that is its main competitive advantage, preventing other players from conquering the coffee industry.

Result. Today, the share of coffee capsules accounts for 20 to 40% of the financial volume of the European coffee market, whose size is estimated at $17 billion. Annually this segment is growing by 30% worldwide. The company's customer focus has increased markedly: 70% of employees have personal contact with customers who order capsules on the brand's website.

Example 2. No risk when buying

Ask yourself: "Why don't potential customers buy from us?". After all, the likely target audience is those people or companies that should become your customers, but for some reason prefer competitors. Perhaps it's all about the costs or risks of the purchase. If you remove these barriers and make buyers profitable proposition most likely they will choose you. Remember, the consumer is willing to pay a fairly high price for reducing their risks.

• Risk Management: 13 Practical Steps

How to solve a problem. During the 2008–2009 crisis, car sales fell heavily around the world, especially in the US. Many automakers (such as General Motors and Chrysler) have been forced to cut prices and make huge discounts. Hyundai also suffered significant losses as its vehicles target lower-middle-income consumers. But there was a way out.

The company understood why people stopped buying: they were simply afraid that they would not be able to pay off the car loan on time. Then in January 2009, the company announced that it would minimize the risks when buying a car. If the buyer lost his job or income within a year of the purchase, he could return the product and this did not affect his credit history in any way.

Result. In the first month of the program, the company's sales almost doubled, while industry-wide revenue fell by 37%. Hyndai sold more vehicles than Chrysler, which had a dealer network four times larger.

Example 3. Picture of consumer behavior

Marketers create as detailed a portrait of each consumer as possible by memorizing their preferences. On the one hand, this allows you to fairly accurately predict what and when a particular client will buy, as well as control his behavior. On the other hand, today these weapons are used by very many companies. Therefore, you and your competitors will spend a lot of money and time trying to lure customers from each other.

Instead of carefully crafting a customer profile and chasing their next order, try to identify the relationship between consumer behavior in the media space and shopping habits. This will help track the actions of buyers, analyze their brand loyalty and evaluate their impact on other consumers.

• Competitors in trade: how to protect your ideas

Such market information can be turned into additional customer value using, for example, the “pass and link” technique. It allows, in particular, to learn from one client and use this knowledge to help another. Thus, you are, as it were, an intermediary between two parties who can benefit from acquaintance.

How to use the information. Amazon, which started out as book Shop, in just 15 years has become one of the largest Internet sites in the world, bringing together many large-scale companies from other industries. The reason is that on Amazon, you can not only buy anything, but also get detailed information about each product that is not available in traditional stores, get the opinion of other buyers, and also understand what people with similar tastes are buying.

• Competitive intelligence: how to beat everyone with creativity

This additional customer value is in demand among 200 million people in the world. Because Amazon analyzes each customer's purchase history and compares it with other consumers' data, Amazon gets the big picture. buying behavior and based on it gives accurate targeted recommendations to each visitor.

Result. Since 2006, Amazon's revenue of just over $10 billion has quadrupled against the backdrop of a deep recession in the US. And since 2005, in the annual ForeSee "Customer Satisfaction" rating, the company has been ranked first or second in the category of online stores. Second on the list is Netflix, whose recommendation system, like Amazon's, has become a long-term competitive advantage.

Davar N. Ideal marketing: what 98% of marketers forgot about / [Trans. from English]. - M.: Alpina Publisher, 2015. - 214 p.