Most entrepreneurs start their respective businesses to follow their passions, to do something better than what the marketplace offers, or to simply break free from the corporate mold. Yet when it comes to standing out in a crowd of countless competitors, they routinely fall short and end up treading water in a sea of sameness.
This happens because it’s easier to blend into the crowd than to take the risks necessary to differentiate. It takes a lot less effort to do what everyone else is doing, and, more than anything, it’s safe. In an industry brimming with competition and access to the same suppliers and products, swaying along to the safety dance will not yield the results you desire.
To break away from the conformity of your competition, you should get comfortable with being uncomfortable. You must do things that your competition is either unwilling or unable to do:
• Use social media to communicate with your clients
• Write an unsolicited LinkedIn recommendation
• Send a handwritten note to express your sincere gratitude
• Generate meaningful content and share it with your clients
• Say “no” to a sale when that sale is not in the best interests of your client (merchandise is not consistent with their brand message, etc.)
• Say “no” to a sale when it’s not in the best interests of your company (low margins, etc.)
Start looking inward and be daring enough to connect your unique point of view to your target audience. It may be an old saying, but people really do buy from people – and brands – they know, like, and trust. Allow people to see the real you and grant them access to what only you can offer.
It’s much easier to be you – with your voice, vision, and passion – than someone else. Stop trying to be like the distributor you wish you could be and start being the distributor that others aspire to be. When you find your voice, and can share it with your target audience, you will never be confined to conformity.
Bill is president of PromoCorner, the leading digital marketing service provider to the promotional products industry, and has over 17 years working in executive leadership positions at leading promotional products distributorships. In 2014, he launched brandivate – the first executive outsourcing company solely focused on helping small and medium sized-promotional products enterprises responsibly grow their business. A featured speaker at numerous industry events, a serial creator of content marketing, president of the Promotional Products Association of the Mid-South (PPAMS), and PromoKitchen chef, Bill has extensive experience coaching sales teams, creating successful marketing campaigns, developing operational policies and procedures, creating and developing winning RFP responses, and presenting winning promotional products solutions to Fortune 500 clients. He can be reached at bill@PromoCorner.com.