Over time every business, product or service becomes a commodity. As people realize there is a market for it and competition increases there is a drive to standardize and begin competing on price and process. Sometimes it happens slowly and others times it’s pretty quick. To be successful you can’t compete the way everyone else is, you have to change the story and alter your value proposition. If you do what everyone else does then you have no chance to be successfully long-term.
I’d say in 50% of the sales meetings I’m in we hear: “I’ve heard the same thing 5 times this month.” At this point it’s put up or shut up time. If you don’t lay out something different you’ve already lost. My differentiation is to throw up the tools and show HOW we actually do the work. Basically pull back the curtain and get into the tools. It shows we’re giving more than a marketing pitch and we actually can do what we say. It can be very powerful.
I’ve seen others succeed by walking into the meeting and laying out the hidden secrets – start off by saying “I’m in a commodity business.” By doing that you disarm your audience and you never get to the phrase “I’ve heard this before.” Now you have to show the value that you bring above everyone else. If you have it then you’re good to go. People in the business can get offended at you for saying their service isn’t unique but it’s all about the packaging. The service stays the same, you’ve just wrapped it differently.
Say it with me now: I’m a commodity.