On Being Special: It’s the Secret to Business Success

You and your business are special. It’s a fact. Just like no two snow flakes are exactly alike, neither are any two people, two business executives, two business owners, two businesses or two customers.

Everyone knows this, from marketers to sales people to psychologists to the person on Main Street. But just our knowing it doesn’t help either a business or a customer. Nope. If no one but you knows what makes you and your business special, nothing happens to the business to persuade the customer to take a chance.

Please understand that I am not talking about businesses who sell bargains or customers who shop for them. Most of us don’t fall into either category. Instead, I am talking about businesses that sell great products, services and, most important, experiences, that customers want and value. Businesses that create great customer experiences also create loyal customers. And loyal customers cost less to acquire and put more money in our pockets. And they are happy to do so. That is why specialness is so important to you and to your customer.

The secret to getting customers to notice is really not much of a secret. We call it lots of things, from differentiation to market segmentation to marketing communications, none of which means very much. What we should call it is what it really is: specialness that makes customers happy.

Specialness is what makes us and our business different from everyone else. And once we discover what that specialness looks like, we can learn who our best customers are and what they look like. They are the ones looking for what makes your business special. But you have to help them find you, so once you identify what makes your business special, you have to communicate it in ways that show, not tell, people what it looks like.

• How does your specialness create a great experience?

• How does it make us feel?

• How does it meet our wants, needs and desires?

What does this mean to marketing: Here's one way to look at it from Seth Godin: If I were a marketer, I'd forget about getting elected. I'd ignore the dissidents, even if they are in the majority. You don't need the most popular blog, the consulting firm with every single company as a client or the flavor of ice cream that almost every single person loves. What you need instead is a passionate minority, a minority so passionate that they spread the word. Jackie and Ben call these people the 1% and they exist in just about every community.

In other words, not only must you find your specialness, but you also must find your customers' specialness. So, if you already know what makes you special, start communicating it to the right people in the right places. If you don’t know what makes you special, find out ASAP.