In a world where natural resources are considered to be vanishing, overabundance of everything else is the norm. Want a computer, the question is what size. Need a book, on what topic. Chemicals, iron, candles, blenders, chairs, recreational vehicles, hotel rooms, aggregates, hair salons or tires--in almost every category there are options to satisfy consumers' wildest dreams. The challenge is not to produce or deliver, since everyone does that already. It's delivering what you do with flare or uniqueness. Song Airlines was just announced from Delta as the next airline in the low-cost high-value market. Did anyone think that JetBlue had the only competitive edge? Seats with a TV...passe...how about someone to change the channel for you? Uniqueness and reliability are now more sacred than just showing up. Stand out, or it won't be long before someone else surpasses your offering with something that attracts attention.
From the management point of view, taking the leap over the top means a possible risk to an entire business. Yet as worrisome as that thought is, seeking safety in blandness could leave one very far behind. Remember when copier machines were something of a novelty? Cannon had taken a very complicated machine with expensive repairs and reduced maintenance costs by developing a drum cartridge and toner cartridge." The cartridges encompassed the majority of parts that could break down due to wear, eliminating service costs and drastically placing the company at a competitive advantage. Starbucks, on the other hand, started with a product that Maxwell House sells for a few dollars a pound, and bumped its price to a few dollars a tablespoon with a shift in delivery and atmosphere. Lexmark, the printer company, developed a low-cost technology to place color imaging on our home desktop for less than $100.00; it now makes a fortune off the replacement-cartridge industry. The uniqueness in each case requires foresight into the future. Then again, cartridge discounters and compatible products are now taking their share of the market. Stand out by creating a distinguishing characteristic that places your product ahead of another.
Unique comes in many forms. Here are 10.
1. Your products or services offer a twist, increasing their value. Swan Industries out of Toronto, Canada sells/rents oil-treated mop heads to customers at twice the going rate of non-treated mops! The process of cleaning the product is almost the same as the traditional cleaning and treating method. However, an oil-treated head places the product "a nose ahead of the competition," offering huge rewards.
2. Your products and services are purchased in more convenient methodology. Whether it is through the net or sales staff, each way makes life easier for the buyer. Oak Express, the national oak-furniture store, uses their stock room as the delivery floor. See a chair you want, pull one from the 50 units.
3. Your firm offers information before others in the industry or in a more complete fashion. Con-Way, one of the larger LTL carriers in the US, attempts to be the carrier of choice by linking the shipper to the firm by offering up-to-date shipping documents and transit positions through their extensive website.
4. Your firm makes some outlandish (yet truthful) statement. Bauer and Associates owner Joel Bauer uses this tactic and says he will draw huge crowds at an event or trade show or you don't owe him a dime. Guaranteed.
5. Technologically your product can't be touched. Israel-based VKB has created a virtual QWERTY keyboard that is not a typical keyboard. It's a "holographic-type" image displayed onto a surface, and as your fingers touch the keys, it types. No more worries about spills in all those little keys. Also a great product for sterile environments.
6. You can deliver it faster. Pirelli Tires offers a twist in JIT through MIRS (Modular Integrated Robotized System) mini factories. Need tires in various sizes and treads? They can place an automated, tire-manufacturing facility right outside your factory door.
Every few minutes a tire is produced. Changeover times are reduced from six days in a typical plant to 72 minutes. Inventory is reduced where only 12% of the raw materials are being processed at a time with 88% in the wings. Every 72 minutes you could deliver a one-of-a-size (and tread) tire whenever you wish. This process reduces and/or eliminates inventory, delivery time and manpower.
7. You support a cause. Bath and Body Works made "animal testing" taboo and made environmental awareness chic.
8. No one else is you. Oprah, Madonna, Richard Branson. Enough said.
9. You've created a relationship with your buyer no one can touch. Who's the person who cuts your hair? The relationship between salon technician/barber and customer is almost sacred to many.
10. Consistently everyone knows and expects a level of service. Mercedes to the auto market, Zenga to the men's clothing industry...how about Corian countertops, Armstrong flooring, Spaulding sports equipment, and John Deere outdoor equipment? Try to argue the Ford-versus-Chevy issue to a truck buyer.
Technology and processes shorten delivery and manufacturing times, providing buyers with copious options. You, too, have choices. Do you want to struggle, to fight on price, and run with the herd? Or would you rather stand out, either with image or unique product features, and charge ahead of the pack? Choosing the latter involves some risk, but the payoffs are usually worth it.
Just one note: tomorrow someone else will be copying you...so be prepared to stick your neck out and stand out all over again. Actively working the cycle makes business fun and profitable..
