E. Jay Saunders, Turks & Caicos Islands31 October 2011

A new competitor enters your market and offers a product very similar to yours but with one key difference:

IT’s FREE!What if all your competitors do it?

David J. Bryce, Jeffrey H. Dyer, and Nile W. Hatch;Competing Against Free

That’s Bad News

But There Is

Good News!

…if the only differentiating factor is price, customers will ALWAYS go with the cheaper product or service.

Chestin Salisbury,

7 Ways Differentiate Yourself from Your Competition

and Avoid the Price Wars Forever

+

There is almost nothing today that you can have that your competitors can't match in a matter of weeks or months.

Building Your Brand

There are 3 Ways To Differentiate (Without Competing On Price):

BRAND1

SERVICE2

VALUE3

Unleashing The Power Of Your Brand

How should a company respond to market challenges and differentiate its offerings from the competitors?

One of the best ways is through effective branding!

Differentiating - alternative ways to differentiate in an increasingly commoditizing market place

According to Six Degrees in their White Paper titled “Differentiating - alternative ways todifferentiate in an increasingly commoditizing market place”:

1. Companies should leverage their corporate brand as it often has substantial equity;AND

2. Corporate reputation and trust in a company – e.g. Apple – were the primary drivers ofpurchase intent, with the specific product features coming in third.

“If Coca Cola lost everything except for ‘the formula’ and its brand name , it could walk into any bank in the world and get

$100 billion loan to start from the scratch”

Fortune Magazine

1. Creating a strong brand identity will build mind share, which is one of the strongestcompetitive advantages imaginable.

2. A strong brand creates in the mind of customers the perception that there is no product orservice on the market that is quite like yours.

MOST IMPORTANTLY3. Your brand is the one thing that you can own that nobody can take away from you!

Building Your Brand

From steak

sauce to hamburger enhancer.

Differentiating - alternative ways to differentiate in an increasingly commoditizing market place

Another way of differentiating yourself from the competition…

…is by innovating in the service arena.

Make it easy for your customers to find information about your products and services…Kim T. Gordon,

Five Ways to Outshine the Competition

Where possible, become a specialist in your field, as people like to work with the BEST. When you’re the best the selling of your products and services becomes infinitely easier.

Chestin Salisbury,

7 Ways Differentiate Yourself from Your Competition

and Avoid the Price Wars Forever

But Always Remember…

An organization will never be what the people are not.Customer Satisfaction:

Differentiate Yourself From The Competition

SOFind out what people don’t like about doing business with you, and eliminate those reasons or

barriers to the sale.

While basic economics tells us that in a competitive market, prices fall to their marginal cost…

Chris Anderson,

Free! Why $0.00 Is the Future of Business

ALL THAT MATTERS…is the difference in price you can charge to the marginal cost.

Mike Masnick

Saying You Can't Compete With Free

Is Saying You Can't Compete Period

Three (3) things a company can do to compete on value while avoiding competing on price:1. Risk Reversal:- offer things that help remove the risk for a customer to purchase your

product – e.g. satisfaction guarantees, bonuses, or premiums. (Chestin Salisbury, 7 Ways Differentiate Yourselffrom Your Competition and Avoid the Price Wars Forever)

2. Bundle:- .Offer a free product or service with a paid offering. (David J. Bryce, Jeffrey H. Dyer, and Nile W.Hatch; Competing Against Free)

3. Up-sell:- Introduce a free basic offering to gain widespread use and then charge for apremium version or out of bundle charges. (David J. Bryce, Jeffrey H. Dyer, and Nile W. Hatch; Competing Against Free)

1. The threat level posed by a competitor offering a Free or cheap product depends on:a) the competitor’s ability to cover its costs quickly,b) the rate at which your competitor is signing up new users (ideally less than 40% per year),

andc) the rate at which your paying customers are defecting to the competitor (ideally less than

5% per year).David J. Bryce, Jeffrey H. Dyer, and Nile W. Hatch;

Competing Against Free

2. Competition will put pressure on profits, but a competitor can’t keep selling goods andservices at a direct loss forever.

Mike Masnick,

Saying You Can't Compete With Free

Is Saying You Can't Compete Period

E. Jay Saunders, Turks & Caicos Islands31 October 2011