You must be different to succeed in the marketplace.

Every company in certain industry must meet certain criteria – minimum to have – to be able to compete in this industry.
These we call „points of parity“.
If company doesn’t have them it has no right to be part of this industry.

Take restaurant as an example.

Points of parity: every restaurant should have:
– clean and nicely decorated place
– using fresh and quality ingredients
– good quality equipment
– nice and friendly personnel
– follow all hygiene / operational standards
– etc

All above are „must have’s“ for all restaurants. Having all these gives you right to be part of the industry, but this gives you no advantage to win over other restaurants. All of them have it, so you are just an average.

To succeed company must have something that differentiates it –
„points of difference“.

These must be very clear, communicated and be relevant to our customers (our WHO).
This sets you apart from your competition in minds and hearts of customers.

The best point of difference is one that can not be easily imitated.

Points of difference for our example restaurant:
– unique recipes you inherited from your Grandma
– daily fresh baked bread served
– fastest order to delivery time
– etc

Please note, that “lower price” can’t be your PoD;
“low cost efficient operating system” can.

Think about “points of parity” in industry you’re competing.
Do you have them all?
Are you on par with your competition and industry standards?

What is your “point of difference”?
What is the reason people should choose your company over competition?

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