Finding the Unique You
One of the questions we’re often asked is “how do I make my business website unique?” It begins with looking at it from your customer’s point of view. After all, with tens or hundreds of opportunities available in a Google search (I pulled up dozens of financial planners searching a very small radius around my office), how do you answer the question “why should I work with you?” If you don’t answer the question quickly, while creating interest, it’s likely your potential customer will just move on or pick randomly.
Interestingly, this isn’t about being the best. Having great services or products in many markets is the price of admission. When you’re a small firm, it’s hard to compete on products and services alone. What you need is a unique selling proposition, or as some call it a point of differentiation. The conversation must focus not on screaming “hey look at me, I’ve got great services”, but rather being able to confidently say that “we’re all about ‘such and such’, and if that’s what you’re looking for, we’re the only place you’ll find it!”
It’s very difficult to win at the game of “being best”. Virtually everyone generally claims to be the best, and unfortunately most prospective clients don’t know enough to really understand the subtle differences.
The key is not to compete at all in the general categories, but rather be best in something that no one else is attempting. And to really do this, it needs to show up often before your prospect even gets to your website (search engine work…)
Creating a successful business powered at least in part by a high traffic website starts with having the right point of view. It begins with how you see the world, how you view and care for your customers, and extends all the way through to your products and services, customer care and then last but not least the way you promote yourself.
If you’ve read this far, and believe that having a unique selling proposition might help your business, the next question is how do you define yours? (We’d love to have that discussion with you!)
Ultimately there are a lot of different approaches you can take. There’s no one right answer, but one thing is sure - if you get it right even a small amount of differentiation can make a big difference in your success.