Positioning your company as unreal, rather than real, can be a much better way of conveying a strong image to customers. How many times have you heard someone walk away from an exceptional place or experience saying that it was “Totally unreal!”? It’s always a positive comment. It shows that it was somehow so much better or different than similar experiences. Those are the kind of comments you want customers taking out your front door and sharing with others. It’s time for your firm to become unreal to stand out from competitors.
I was scanning my Facebook Fan Page recently over a hot cup of tea when I came across the following post by followers Shuttersandco in Scottsdale, Arizona. Let me be clear that I am not picking on them or trying to embarrass them. This kind of situation happens all the time. Their post read:
“Samples are here and display units come next week! We’re starting to look like a real showroom!”
I hit ‘Like’ and was ready to post a congratulatory comment when I stopped dead in my tracks. “Wait a minute…” my out of control brain screamed. What is a real showroom? Other than having an unreal showroom, or perhaps a virtual, e-commerce showroom, what other types could there be? Therein lies the issue.
Don’t be like everyone else – do something ‘unreal
Referring to your showroom, office, or retail location as a real anything suggests on a subliminal level that there is some level of standardization of facilities for businesses like yours. And, it suggests that you are not at that real stage yet, but it’s coming. But, how will they know when that might be? I’m sure that isn’t what you really want; to be just like all of your competitors. Or, worse yet, to have people interested in your products and services wait a while until you become real? I’d want them to come right in my door or call on the phone immediately, not go elsewhere or be on hold. They might well not come back when you are ready or real.
Subliminal messages being just ‘real’ can send to consumers
If being like everyone else is the route you choose for your business, you are making a number of other decisions at the same time:
- I want to do everything ‘just like the other kids do’ — that would be your competition.
- I want to look like everyone else in my industry — again, with the competitors.
- I want to hide and blend in with everyone else — I don’t want my company to stand out at all.
- I want to limit my product lines and services — who needs to have anything unique that others don’t have?
- I want to join a price war with my competitors — there isn’t any other concept or level that can I compete on if we are all the same.
The whole purpose of developing a brand for your company is to make your firm stand out from competitors. A brand is a promise. It lets customers know what they can expect from you and your business that is different from others. Your brand tells people who you are as a company, or as an individual in business. It conveys what you do, other than the basics that everyone else provides. And, most importantly, why they should sign on the line for your products and services. Hmmm… is becoming unreal to stand out beginning to make sense now?
Who will bother telling anyone else that your business is just like every other? People talk about things that are different. They talk about things that are unique and exceptional. That’s what you want them telling others about you and your company. Develop strategies today to help you become that unreal business in your town and in your industry that everyone is talking about. Become unreal to stand out from the crowd. Be recognized and grow. Tick-tock. Tick-tock. Time’s awasting.
What have you done recently to make your company stand out in your competitive marketplace?
