Doug Davidoff
“That’s not how we do it in our industry.”- “I’m not sure I’m comfortable doing that, I’ve never done that before.”
- “I’ve been working with my customer for several years, and I’ve never asked those types of questions.”
- “Salespeople aren’t expected to do that in our industry.”
- “We’ve never done that before. How will I know it will work?”
These are just some of the most common statements that I hear every day from people who claim that they want to differentiate their companies from their competitors.
Let me remind everyone that differentiation is an ends – it’s not a means. The critical component to differentiating yourself in the market is doing something different that matters.
90% of the time the activity that matters and makes you different will, initially, make you and the people in your company uncomfortable. Think about it, if it were comfortable to do, it’s highly likely many others would be doing it.
Please do not misunderstand my point. Merely being different is not enough to differentiate. So, just because no one has ever done it before doesn’t mean that you should do it – but it’s a great starting point.