To
identify your points of difference, first evaluate the strengths and weaknesses
of your business, followed by those of your competition. According to AmericanExpress’s Open Forum, small businesses should assess the consumer’s perception of
the following points: price, variety, features, benefits, quality,
availability, convenience, customer service and your story (how, why or where
you do business).
This can be an activity practiced on your own, but would be best to include a
group of trusted team members – as long as you can keep an open mind in the
process.
After
identifying the strengths and weaknesses of both your company and the
competition, note areas of similarity. After crossing out the strengths you
share with competitions, the strengths that stand apart become your points of
difference. Your points of difference should be leveraged to create a
consistent brand message which inspires brand loyalty by giving consumers a
reason to purchase your product. A point of difference doesn’t always have to be spelled out, in fact, it shouldn’t be – that
would get old quick. Everyone knows a picture speaks a thousand words,
before posting a photo on Instagram or Facebook think about your points of
difference and the message you want to communicate to your followers. If one of
your points of difference is that you hand-dip chocolates, post photos of your
staff in the act (always make sure they are following good manufacturing practices).
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| You don't need to read their company history to know Birnn Chocolates of Vermont uses fresh, heavy cream from local dairy cows in their truffles. |
As a wholesale supplier, you will not find RCI
member, Birnn Chocolates of Vermont on Facebook. However, they do a great job of communicating one of
their points of difference to their B2B clients, which is the fact that they use only fresh, heavy
cream from Vermont cows for the ganache centers in their famous truffles. They
even have a photo of brothers Jeff and Bill Birnn posed with those very Vermont
cows on their website.
