Dominate the competition
This content was inspired by research and case studies contained in “Talk Triggers: The Complete Guide to Creating Customers With Word of Mouth,” the new book from Jay Baer and Daniel Lemin.
Countless companies claim to be “the best in the business,” but so few actually deliver. You’ve probably lost count of the number of times you’ve driven down the highway and spotted a sign advertising a “world famous” restaurant that clearly falls short of that mark.
It’s sort of like “The Boy Who Cried Wolf” — when every company claims to be the best, it’s impossible to know who to trust. Even when businesses actually do manage to provide the premium product or service they advertise, it doesn’t guarantee their customers will talk about them.
Dominate the competition
Instead of relying on hollow accolades to fuel your word-of-mouth marketing, look to a far more powerful and sustainable approach: talk triggers. A talk trigger is a part of your business that gets your customers talking to one another and spreading the gospel of your brand.
A talk trigger could be any differentiator. Most importantly, it doesn’t have to be expensive. For instance, DoubleTree by Hilton welcomes every hotel guest with a delicious chocolate chip cookie. The minuscule cost of that cookie is a drop in the bucket compared to a massive ad spend, but it’s a defining part of DoubleTree’s business. An accident? Absolutely not.
Defining Your Difference
When everything essentially feels the same, price becomes the only differentiator. Worse yet, companies focus a ton of time and energy on competing on the customer experience or product quality. These aspects are certainly important, but they’re basically the price of admission. If you and your closest competition both provide high-quality service, your differentiator has evaporated right out from under you.
I would never advocate crappy customer service, but you should recognize the limitations of a differentiator defined by something your competitors all do. A selling proposition should be unique, after all. Same is lame, and psychology has proven that we ignore what’s average in favor of discussing what’s different.
