What is your Tiebreaker?

Can you answer the question "Why should I choose you?"

I read a recent article in Quality Insider that asked readers to consider what sets their organization apart - what would make someone choose them over another organization?  The article went on to point out that if no other differentiator is evident the tiebreaker becomes price, a game that few companies can win at for very long.

When I look at our Commitment to Excellence presenters this year, all of them indicated their tiebreaker, and in every case it came down to a focus on the "customer".  For example, there are many places that I can have my damaged car repaired, but I would choose Grappone Collision Center because of predictability; they place a focus on doing the job right and on time.  There are many choices for dental insurance, but I would choose Northeast Delta Dental because of the service; everyone is knowledgeable, accessible, and easy to work with.  There are many potential tiebreakers but they all come down to consistently providing value that matches customers' needs and then being able communicate that value to the customer.

To create your organization's tiebreaker:

1. Define and communicate what is most important to your customers.  Survey them, call them, ask them when they do business with you, it doesn't have to be complicated or expensive.  Let everyone in the organization know what the important things are and universally act on them.

2. Identify what your organization already does well and the advantages that it has.  Match this with what customers want.  Let customers know what you are already doing that meets their needs.  Focus on improving the things that you don't do consistently or well.

3. Continuously improve.  Keep looking for and enhancing the things that provide the tiebreaker advantage, even (especially) those you already do well.  If you don't, a competitor will.

Defining and keeping your organization's tiebreaker takes some effort, but it well worth it and makes a difference in an organization's ability to win and keep business.   It requires more that just good marketing.  It requires the leadership, planning, and execution to make what you market your way of business.

So... why should I choose you?