Ten Questions Every Business Owner Should Ask Themselves (but Probably Don’t) by Steve Miller

As marketers, we’re often reminded of the important basics: What are our objectives? Who is our targeted customer? Where can we find them? What need do we fill for them?  

As a Strategic Marketing Gunslinger (OK, I’m a consultant), my experience, plus the education I received through the “School of Hard Knocks,” has pushed me to go deeper. I’ve advised corporations and trade associations for 33 years. When I consult, I ask my clients the following questions, and the vast majority can’t answer them.  

Guess what? This creates an opportunity for YOU. Being able to answer the following questions gives you a leg up compared to your competition. Focus on these, think carefully about your answers, and you’ll enjoy an unfair advantage. Commit to conquering them, and they’ll make you Uncopyable.  

So here you go—ten questions every business owner should ask themselves (but probably don’t). How many can YOU answer? 

1. How would you sell against YOU? 
   What gives YOUR product or service the advantage? What gives THEM the advantage? Think about it: if you switched sides, what would you attack/avoid? What are the weaknesses you could go after? This can be a big eye-opener. When you put yourself in the competition’s shoes, you might find some real gaps in your offerings. If so, pay attention to and fix them. 

2. What is your closing rate? 
   If I gave you one hundred new leads, do you know how many customers your company would generate on average? You don’t? Then how can you possibly set annual, realistic, fact-based revenue goals? You can’t. Your projections are just WAGs (Wild A-- Guesses). 
   Unfortunately, you’re not alone—over 95 percent of my consulting clients were unable to answer that question when we first started working together. 

3. Who is your BIG MOOSE? 
   In the language of Uncopyable, we call your Target your “Moose.” But not all Moose are the same. If you’re like most businesses, 80 percent of your business comes from 20 percent of your customers. Basically, if you’re generating $10 million in revenues from 100 customers, then $8 million is from 20 of your customers. These are your BIG MOOSE. 

   
   Who are these people/companies? How can you analyze them to find some type of commonality between them? Are they in a specific industry or specialty niche? Do they all belong to the same country club? Do they have a common unique challenge? Your objective, naturally, is to be able to look for more of them! 

4. What is the long-term value of your average customer? 
   Most businesspeople see a customer from a transactional perspective. How big was the last order? How big can I make the next order? How many orders can I get from them this year? It’s unusual, however, for businesses to see customers from a lifetime-value perspective, but that’s exactly how we should see them! 

   
   I learned this lesson years ago from Stew Leonard, owner of Stew Leonard’s, an east-coast grocery store. Stew told me that he pictured each of his regular customers with a $50,000 label on their forehead. He explained that his average good customer spent $100 per week at his store. He figured if he took good care of them, they would shop once a week for 50 weeks out of the year (two weeks off for vacation). 

   
   He then figured if he took VERY good care of them, they would shop at his store for at least ten years. One hundred dollars per week for 50 weeks for 10 years equals $50,000! Stew went on to say that a $50,000 customer is very different from a $100 customer! Figure it out. How much is the lifetime value of a customer? Then figure out the lifetime value of an average customer. How much would you spend (invest) to generate a customer?  

5. What is your formal referral marketing strategy? 
   How recommendable are you? How many recommendations have you received in the last three months? Almost every business owner I’ve met will tell me their company gets most new customers from referrals. Yet almost every one then admits they don’t have a formal referral marketing strategy! Does this make sense? Our #1 tool for generating new business and we don’t give it our highest priority? We don’t move heaven and earth learning how to build this strategy and we don’t crawl over broken glass to implement one? Here’s a huge tip—be recommendable first and then help facilitate that recommendation. What’s worth talking about GETS talked about…but you also want to help it along! 

6. What marketing tools do you use regularly to fill the funnel? 
   What new tools have you tested in the last three months? The first question may be easy to answer, but not the second. We ALL develop habits and routines. It’s only human nature to get into our comfort zone and want to stay there. If we learn how to use direct mail, what tool do we use over and over? Direct mail! Do we try other new tools? Sometimes, but we often only give them cursory effort. Hey, we tried video marketing once, but it didn’t work! So we go back to the comfort zone and use direct mail. It may not always work, but we have confidence in it and are comfortable with it, so we stick with what we know and keep on keeping on. 

   
   New communication tools are being developed all the time. And our customers develop their own preferences for being communicated with. Some people like to just get e-mail. Some want phone calls. Some want to do Zoom. As we recover from the pandemic, some do, and will, want face-to-face communication. Our job isn’t to expect customers and prospects to bend to OUR personal preference. Our job is to make it as easy as possible for our customers to hear from us.  

7. What business are you in? 
   What business do your customers want you to be in? Say you make widgets. Who cares? Here’s the thing: you might think you’re in the widget manufacturing business, but you’re not. You, my friend, are in the customer satisfaction business. Your customer wants to be satisfied. They want problems solved, challenges met, and sleep uninterrupted. 

   
   Your goal is to have long-term relationships with your customers, right? What are your special abilities and competencies? How do your customers WANT you to use them?

8. How many new customers did you attract in the last three months? How many customers did you lose?  
   You might know the answer to the first question, but what about the second? Look, NOBODY keeps all their customers forever. You will lose customers. This is important to track because you must make sure you've got a funnel filled with quality prospects to replace those you lose. 
   

   The other reality is that you will also occasionally lose a big customer, and that hurts. Big customers are tough to quickly replace. Yet most businesses get caught off-guard when this happens. Developing a strategy that takes just such an occasion into account is critical to your long-term success. 

9. Are you a transactional supplier or a transformational supplier? How do you know?  
   Transactional suppliers are focused on the next sale, the next quarter’s revenues. Transformational suppliers are focused on helping their customers be more successful as a result of their relationship. 

   
   Which brings me to the last and most difficult question: 

10. How much new money did your customers earn last year as a result of their relationship with you?  

    So, how’d you do? I believe the questions are ALL important. I’d suggest you take the time to think about every single question you don’t have an immediate answer to. Each one of these, answered correctly, can help you become Uncopyable.  

To learn more about the strategies and tools to make your company Uncopyable, check out the updated and expanded edition of Uncopyable: How to Create an Unfair Advantage Over Your Competition. Steve Miller is an author, professional/virtual speaker and business advisor. Since founding The Adventure LLC in 1984, Miller’s consulting clients have ranged from solo entrepreneurs to Fortune 100 mega corporations, including Starbucks, Coca-Cola and Procter & Gamble. For your FREE copy of 108 Secrets to Grow Your Uncopyable Business (ebook), go to 108Secrets.com.

Uncopyable Innovation: Stealing Genius by Steve Miller

I was a teenager when my father joined up with Bill Lear to create one of the most iconic and industry-changing products ever—the 8-track tape player. Lear had been with Motorola when he decided to start a new business jet company, aptly named Lear Jet. But Lear was also one of those guys who had more ideas than time.  

In the late ’50s, early ’60s, Chrysler manufactured a car with a record player in it. It flipped down from underneath the dashboard and only played 45s. (For those of you who have no idea what I’m talking about, Google it, you young whippersnappers!) 

It was a great idea to take your own music with you in the car, but clearly, the turntable was not a good way of doing it. Those of us old enough to remember can picture the needle bouncing all over the record while driving down Main Street. 

Lear thought there must be a better way and went looking for someone to help develop this idea with. He found my dad, Ralph, working in Columbus, Indiana, and offered him a job. Dad was already known as something of an audio/video wunderkind, having developed and patented some pretty cool ideas. 

Lear began another new company, this one called Lear Jet Stereo, and together they improved on another company’s idea—the Muntz 4-track—ultimately coming up with the 8-track so well known in consumer electronics lexicon. 

Without going into all the gritty details, the 8-track tapes and players ended up being manufactured in Japan. Think about that for a moment. “Made in Japan” in the 1960s. For the most part, Japan wasn’t known for its high-quality products. In fact, it wouldn’t be a stretch to say that Japanese-made products back then were more known for their poor quality and workmanship than anything else. They made cheap stuff. And labor costs were very low. 

The idea of manufacturing a complicated piece of electronics of high enough quality to be sold back to the world’s biggest consumer nation—the USA—must have been daunting to my dad and Lear, but they met an American consultant who was at the time consulting for some Japanese manufacturers, including Toyota. He was W. Edwards Deming, an American statistician, professor, author, lecturer and consultant. As Wikipedia describes it, “Deming made a significant contribution to Japan's later reputation for innovative high-quality products and its economic power. He is regarded as having had more impact upon Japanese manufacturing and business than any other individual not of Japanese heritage.” 

At the time, I had the bad fortune to be dragged to some dinners with Dad, Lear, and Deming. In hindsight, it’s easy to see how valuable it might have been to be that fly on the wall while these three pretty smart guys discussed manufacturing. But like I said, I was young. Sitting through those times was like experiencing the torture of constant water drops on your forehead.  

I learned much later that Deming taught his Japanese clients to build quality into the manufacturing process first. This was significant in that most companies built products first and then tested them via Quality Control after. Lear Jet Stereo didn’t have that luxury because they didn’t have deep pockets.  

Fortunately, a few tidbits of information managed to stick in the back of my tiny little teenage boy brain. Two such tidbits were the concepts of maintaining a vigorous program of education and constant self-improvement. Deming often stressed that both were accelerated by what we know as benchmarking. Most of us know the definition of benchmarking as: To observe correct behavior and then emulate within our own context. In other words, study best practices and then adapt to our needs. Most of us practice this type of benchmarking in one way or another. But the way we do this is incorrect for the most part. This happens quite unintentionally, though. Our heuristics actually get in the way. Here’s how I define heuristics: Individuals assess probabilities based on their familiarity with a certain task, idea, or environment. Humans attempt to frame a decision based on prior situations confronted and successfully negotiated. Individuals start at one place in a decision matrix and adjust from that initial point. In other words, we don’t see things as they really are. We see things as we are.

It actually goes further than that, though. We not only see the world through our own filters, but we actually experience it that way, as well. We read the same magazines and trade publications as most of the people we spend time with. We attend the same conferences and trade shows as everybody else in our industry. We bookmark the same webpages. And we hang out in the same online discussion groups on LinkedIn. So, when we start “observing correct behavior,” who do we benchmark? Why, we study other people and companies within our world, that’s who! We take ideas from the same speakers and consultants as everybody else does. We walk the same trade show floors as everyone else does—looking for “new” ideas we can incorporate next year. “Hey, they’ve got a magician and a really crowded booth. That’s what WE’LL do next year!” And what happens? After a while, everyone is stealing from each other. We all start to look alike, and we all start to act alike. We are all copyable.  

Deming understood this and, after a couple of martinis, used to rail on about how stupid this was.  

Yes, it’s important to know what the competition is doing. We must pay attention and make sure we aren’t getting left behind. But when the Radisson hotel group started promoting their rooms with the Tempur-Pedic Sleep Number Bed, they weren’t innovating. They were copying the Westin Hotel Heavenly Bed. Did they think they were adding some awesome new benefit customers couldn’t get anywhere else? Possibly, but that’s the danger of heuristics. The fact is Radisson’s efforts are really no better than a hotel who touts a better coffee maker. 

Like I said, Deming understood this. And many years later it finally sunk into the back of my tiny little adult boy brain. If you truly want to innovate—if you want to be so different you’re Uncopyable—you must benchmark outside your world. 

I’d been talking with Jim Nordstrom, president of Nordstrom department stores at the time. We’d met on the golf course, and he began asking me questions about marketing. Frankly, I was a little taken aback by this and said, “Jim, I can’t give you any marketing advice. I don’t know anything about retail.” To which he responded, “That’s exactly why I’m asking you. The retail consultants will tell me the same thing they would tell my competition. You might tell me something none of us had thought of before. You tell me what you know, and we’ll figure out how to use it.” 

That was the epiphany. I finally saw the mistake most businesses make. Deming’s rants all of a sudden made perfect sense.  Even Albert Einstein saw the need to look for answers and new ideas from outside our heuristics: “We can’t solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them.” 

History is rife with examples of accidental external benchmarking, i.e., discoveries: 

Velcro 

The hook-and-loop fastener was conceived in 1941 by Swiss engineer George de Mestral who lived in Commugny, Switzerland. The idea came to him one day after returning from a hunting trip with his dog in the Alps. He took a close look at the burrs (seeds) of burdock that kept sticking to his clothes and his dog’s fur. He examined them under a microscope and noted their hundreds of “hooks” that caught on anything with a loop, such as clothing, animal fur, or hair. He saw the possibility of binding two materials reversibly in a simple fashion if he could figure out how to duplicate the hooks and loops. (Wikipedia) 

Anesthesia 

Crawford Long, William Morton, Charles Jackson, and Horace Wells all come to mind when talking about anesthesia. These men realized that in some cases, ether and nitrous oxide (laughing gas) inhibited pain in people under their influence. In the 1800s, inhaling either of these compounds was somewhat popular for both recreation and entertainment. By witnessing and even partaking in these events, often called “laughing parties” and “ether frolics,” anesthesia’s founding fathers learned more about how these experiences affected people’s perceptions of pain. 

One example in particular demonstrates the accidental discovery of these compounds used to prevent pain in the medical field. In 1844, Horace Wells attended an exhibit and witnessed a participant injure his leg while under the influence of laughing gas. The man, whose leg was bleeding, told Wells that he didn’t feel any pain. After his accidental discovery, Wells used the compound as an anesthetic while he removed his tooth. From there, anesthesia’s use during medical procedures and surgeries took off. Wells, Morton, and Jackson began to collaborate and use anesthesia in dental practices, while Crawford Long used ether for minor surgeries. 

Other examples include the microwave oven, the ice cream cone, Teflon, Post-It Notes, the Slinky, the drive-through window at McDonalds, and Play-Doh. All are examples of serendipitous discovery. 

And, although not as common, there are also examples of intentional benchmarking outside the common walls. My favorite example is Southwest Airlines. The airline industry is probably one of the most egregious examples of an industry that’s stuck in its own heuristics. American Airlines starts a frequent flyer program. Everybody follows suit. United Airlines starts charging for baggage. Everybody follows suit. Delta Airlines creates a hub and spoke system. In an industry of copycats, it’s amazing companies like Southwest, JetBlue, and Virgin have been able to resist the hypnotic pull of follow-the-follower. 

Back when Southwest Air wasn’t the airline industry’s profit leader, Herb Kelleher, CEO, came to the realization that SWA didn’t make money when an airplane was at a gate. It only made money in the air. Kelleher decided SWA would cut the turnaround time drastically, but how to learn?  

The answer was to observe and learn from NASCAR pit crews. Top teams can change all four tires, fill up the gas tank, check the oil, clean the windshield, and vacuum the floor mats in under 12 seconds. (Okay, I made up the floor mat part.) Southwest Air learned how to get everybody—pilots, ground crew, gate agents, and flight attendants—involved in getting a plane offloaded, reloaded, and in the air faster than any other airline. I’ve personally timed multiple flights myself and have never seen a turnaround take more than 20 minutes. On the flip side, I’ve never seen American, Delta, or United ever turn a plane in less than 40. Southwest benchmarked outside their industry when they studied NASCAR pit crews. Instead of copying competitors and then doing “more of the same, but better,” they looked for the genius answer. 

Who is the best in the world, no matter what industry, and how do they solve this? 

That’s why I call it Stealing Genius. Pablo Picasso famously said, “Good artists copy. Great artists steal.” Steve Jobs quoted Picasso in a short video clip I often cite, and he goes further by explaining how Apple has used the concept. If you want to be Uncopyable, this is the mindset you need.  

In the world of comedy, it’s said there are no new jokes. Brilliant humorists are able to uniquely twist an old story…camouflaging it to the point we don’t even recognize it…until we are set up for the “we didn’t see that coming” punch line. 

Every time I teach a group how to Steal Genius, they’re almost caught off guard by its power and effectiveness. A few years ago, I took 28 exhibitors from the huge annual automotive aftermarket trade show, AAPEX, through a Stealing Genius laboratory. We met in Las Vegas and the objective was for them to learn better methods for attracting quality buyers into their booth and turn them into customers. I sent them out to study three local “trade shows”—the Forum Shops at Caesars Palace, the Grand Canal Shoppes at The Venetian, and the Shoppes at The Palazzo. I asked them to observe how the “exhibitors” (the retailers) grabbed shoppers’ attention, how they helped the shoppers qualify themselves, how they displayed products, what type of graphics and messaging was used, and how the “exhibit staffers” (the salespeople) helped them. 

Many of the participants said they’d never seen the similarity between a shopping mall and a trade show, but once their eyes were opened, it was clear. And it became a great learning exercise. Delphi Automotive was so motivated they completely scrapped their existing exhibit plan and booth, developing a new strategy based on some stolen genius. They had their best trade show ever, according to Roger Powell, Director of Marcomm.  

That’s the beauty of Stealing Genius. Once you see the myriad of possibilities outside your own world, you’ll find many new ideas. And once you learn how to do it, it becomes a skill you’ll use to observe your experiences—and your world—to come up with ideas you never would have thought of.  

So, the next time you are looking for a new idea for your organization—maybe a new marketing promotion, a new product idea, a new customer service, or maybe a branding proposition—don’t look at your competition. Don’t even look within your own industry. Look outside. Look at people, organizations, and industries completely unrelated to yours. What are they doing in those areas you want to get better at? How do they solve similar problems? 

Then ask yourself, “What can I steal?” 

To learn more about the strategies and tools to make your company Uncopyable, check out the updated and expanded edition of Uncopyable: How to Create an Unfair Advantage Over Your Competition. Steve Miller is an author, professional/virtual speaker and business advisor. Since founding The Adventure LLC in 1984, Miller’s consulting clients have ranged from solo entrepreneurs to Fortune 100 mega corporations, including Starbucks, Coca-Cola and Procter & Gamble. For your FREE copy of 108 Secrets to Grow Your Uncopyable Business (ebook), go to 108Secrets.com.  

How Hunting Moose Can Transform Your Company’s Marketing by Steve Miller

Does your company suffer from low closing rates? If so, there’s a good chance you—or the people on your marketing team—are not hunting moose. 

That’s right, hunting moose. Let me explain. 

Hunting moose is a marketing lesson I’ve carried for years. Today, it makes for the strategic marketing foundation for all my clients as I help them create and maintain long-term relationships with their customers. 

So, what exactly is hunting moose? It’s target marketing—done the right way.  

The reality is, many companies today struggle with effective marketing. Too often they make the mistake of thinking everyone should want or need the product or service they’re selling. They try to sell to everyone. That’s an issue because not everyone is the same. We’re all different, with different needs and interests. 

Here’s why I call it hunting moose. Imagine for a moment the world is a forest. Like any other forest, it is full of different animals—bears, birds, rabbits, deer, wolves, moose, squirrels, etc. Now, your company has made the conscious decision that your product or service is best suited for moose. The moose represents your target market. You’re interested only in moose, not any of the other animals. 

Determining your Market—hunting moose—is the first step in The Marketing Diamond, the foundation of the Uncopyable philosophy. I detail it in my book, Uncopyable: How to Create an Unfair Advantage Over Your Competition. Every successful marketing strategy starts with defining and understanding your moose. 

The trouble is that too many companies cast their net wide—onto all of the animals in the forest in hopes their moose will be among them. But think about this: If I gave you 10 different prospects (all different types of animals including moose), how many would you close? Now, imagine all 10 of those prospects were moose. You can bet your overall close rate would significantly increase. 

A moose is a prospect, but what we’re really after is a qualified lead. A qualified lead not only represents your target market, they also demonstrate a clear interest in your company’s product or service. They “get it” and agree they have a need. That person is a qualified lead. In other words, they’re a hungry moose.  

The easy part for most companies is defining their prospect in terms of geographical location, industry, company size, job function, their role within the buying process, etc. However, there’s a second and very critical behavior prospects must display in order to be a qualified lead. They must show interest. What would cause a prospect to be interested? Consider the following: 

• There’s a specific problem you solve 

• You save them time or money 

• You present them with unique opportunities 

Here’s an example. Let’s say I’m a new car salesperson and, if I were to look at you, there’s a good chance you’d fit the profile of my target. You’re my moose. I think you need to buy a new car. But do you think you need a new car? If you do, then bingo! You might be willing to test drive a few cars and may even leave with a new set of wheels. That’s the power of interest. But if you don’t think you need a new car, then my odds of selling you one are probably slim to none.  

Okay, let’s say you find someone who fits the profile of your target market but, for whatever reason, they display no level of interest. What do you do? In this scenario, you may want to consider a drip campaign. A drip campaign is a communication strategy in which you send or “drip” prewritten content or messages over time (i.e., e-mail newsletters, etc.). This way you are still communicating with them and offering them value through content, but you’re not investing people time. 

The bottom line: Don’t waste time trying to sell to everyone. Look for your moose, and only your moose. Then, give them opportunities to raise their hand (or hoof?) to say, “I’m interested.” Now, you have a hungry moose. Your job of closing them just got a whole lot easier. 

It’s your turn. Go out into the forest, find your moose, and make them hungry. Do that, and your closing rate will skyrocket.  

Happy hunting! 

To learn more about the strategies and tools to make your company Uncopyable, check out the updated and expanded edition of Uncopyable: How to Create an Unfair Advantage Over Your Competition, available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Books-a-Million, Porchlight Book Company, Google Play, Apple Books, and other fine retailers. Steve Miller is an author, professional/virtual speaker, and business advisor. Since founding The Adventure LLC in 1984, Miller’s consulting clients have ranged from solo entrepreneurs to Fortune 100 mega corporations, including Starbucks, Coca-Cola, and Procter & Gamble. For your FREE copy of “108 Secrets to Grow Your Uncopyable Business” (ebook), go to 108Secrets.com.  

Why Today’s Businesses Must Be “Uncopyable” by Steve Miller

Why do your customers do business with you? I bet it’s because of your excellent customer service, right? Or maybe it’s that innovative product you just launched. Guess what? Your competition is saying the same thing about their company.  

Businesses today need to rethink their competitive strategy in order to create a true advantage over the competition. You need to be Uncopyable. 

What does that mean? Let’s take a closer look.  

Advancements in technology have made it very difficult for businesses to create unique products. In fact, it’s getting harder and harder to differentiate, and if your competition can copy you, then you are not unique. 

Okay, so maybe your competitive advantage is the superior customer service you provide. That may sound great, but think about it. What exactly does that mean? Do you make ordering product easy? Do you deliver on your promises? Do you quickly resolve issues when they arise? Well, isn’t that what you’re supposed to do anyway? Aren’t these the basics of customer service? Plus, I guarantee you that your competitors are also touting their amazing customer service. 

And you certainly don’t want to compete based on price. That’s a losing battle. 

The good news is that it’s pretty easy to break the mold and create a meaningful attachment with your customers—in other words, to become Uncopyable. 

As I say in my book, Uncopyable: How to Create an Unfair Advantage Over Your Competition, “Developing an Uncopyable advantage requires creating a strategy with new, contrarian eyes—looking at your industry, your competitors, and especially your customers, through a different filter.” 

Uncopyable Strategies  

I believe there are essentially four strategies to becoming Uncopyable:  

• Branding 

• Stealing Genius 

• Experience 

• Storytelling 

Let’s start with branding. No, this doesn’t mean stamping your logo on everything imaginable. And it goes well beyond uniquely identifying your products and services. Branding is what makes you memorable.  

Think, for example, of Harley-Davidson. The Harley-Davidson brand doesn’t sell motorcycles; it sells fantasy and community. That’s what clearly differentiates it from the competition. Harley-Davidson has nailed a branding proposition that’s difficult for other companies to copy. 

I would argue that effective branding is not thinking outside of the box but rather building your own box. 

Effective branding is not thinking outside of the box but rather building your own box. 

Next is Stealing Genius, a term I came up with. The idea is to go out and study “alien” organizations and experiences—ones that are outside of your industry. Do not rely on internal benchmarking because you never get new ideas from your competition. If you master Stealing Genius, you’ll be hard to copy. 

There are several different approaches to Stealing Genius, including studying specific geniuses. Take Disney parks, for instance. What is Disney really good at? How does Disney enhance customer experience? Once you start to study Disney from such a perspective, you’ll start to see what it does that can be extrapolated to your business. 

Disney is obviously just one example. There are a lot of companies that you can study and a lot of genius to steal if you keep your radar up. 

Third is creating an Uncopyable experience. An Uncopyable experience is what really enables your business to build an attachment with your customers. It’s the star of the Uncopyable approach. As outlined in my book, there are a few good ways to do this, including creating an enviable club and making your customers feel like rock stars. 

Then there’s storytelling, which can be an extremely powerful marketing and branding tool. Here’s the thing about stories: People connect with stories. Stories create an invisible bond between you and your customers. The fact is that every company has a story to tell, and there are at least a half dozen different types of storytelling. Which type of story does your company have? 

These Uncopyable strategies are just a sampling of the tools and resources that your business can employ, whether you’re B2B, B2C, or a small or large company. Find the ideas that best resonate with you. 

It’s important to point out that none of today’s Uncopyable companies have achieved their leading position through superior products or customer service.  Those are easy to copy. Focus on branding, innovation, experience and storytelling to become a true differentiator. They are what make you Uncopyable. 

For 25 Uncopyable Marketing Tips (FREE ebook), go to https://bit.ly/357cVYe. 

To learn more about the strategies and tools to make your company Uncopyable, check out the updated and expanded edition of Uncopyable: How to Create and Unfair Advantage Over Your Competition, available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Books-a-Million, Porchlight Book Company, Google Play, Apple Books, and other fine retailers. Steve Miller is an author, a professional/virtual speaker, and a business advisor. Since founding The Adventure LLC in 1984, Miller’s consulting clients have ranged from solo entrepreneurs to Fortune 100 megacorporations, including Starbucks, Coca-Cola, and Procter & Gamble. To get a free copy of “The Old Rules of Business That Still Matter,” go to theadventure.com/sw. 

Top 10 Business Tips for Creating an Uncopyable Competitive Advantage by Steve Miller

Photo by Artsy Crafty for StockSnap

Competition is fierce. That’s one thing all companies today can agree on. Unfortunately, in a race to outpace rivals, too many companies are stuck in a hamster wheel approach to become better than their competition. But here’s the reality: that’s a never-ending race that nobody wins. 

You don’t want to be better. Better can always be one-upped, and better just isn’t good enough if you truly want to gain a competitive advantage. So what’s the answer? You must become Uncopyable. 

Drawing from my book Uncopyable: How to Create an Unfair Advantage Over Your Competition, I’ve outlined 10 tips for business owners looking to shatter the mold and secure a unique position in the market. Let’s take a closer look. 

Top 10 Tips 

1. Develop an Uncopyable mindset. Basically, this means look at what your competitors are doing—and don’t do it. This can be easier said than done. It requires consciously developing a practice of observation and curiosity. And I’d advise companies not to fall into the easy trap of just asking their customers what they want. They don’t know what they want. Did anyone ask for the Internet before it existed? Did anyone ask for a smartphone?  

2. Rethink the marketing process. There’s a good chance you’re approaching marketing backwards. Marketing does not start with the medium (i.e., a bulk-mail campaign or social media). The first step in developing any marketing strategy is defining and understanding your market. This is followed by the message, media, and moment. As I discuss in my book, this model is what I call the Marketing Diamond. 

3. Find what makes you special. Your company’s branding position goes well beyond simply uniquely identifying your products and services. It makes a clearly stated promise as to how you are different from the competition. And smart companies play up what sets them apart. If your promise isn’t exactly unique, maybe your personality is. Maybe there’s something special about your office culture. Find what makes you special. 

4. Build your own box. Creating an effective branding proposition isn’t about thinking outside of the box but rather creating your own box. Then you fill that box with stuff that will resonate with your customers. How do you do this? In my book, I outline tools for building your unique box, including creating your own language and creating specific triggers and anchors. 

5. Steal genius. This is a term that I came up with. The idea is to go out and study “alien” organizations and experiences—ones that are outside of your industry. Once you start to study them, you’ll begin to see what can be extrapolated and applied to your business. The main point here is do not rely on benchmarking from within your industry, because you never get new ideas from your competition.  

6. Create an attachment. Your customers must become attached to your company, professionally and personally. I believe there are five critical pieces that go into creating attachment, one of which is a cool-kids club. Creating a club that all of your customers and prospects want to be a member of creates a personal, emotional attachment, and carries with it a perception of high value. 

7. Create rock stars. Make your best customers feel like rock stars through VIP treatment. Take, for instance, Bass Pro Shops. They created their own rock stars: expert fisherman and women who are featured on Bass Pro’s website and brought out to conduct demos at special events. Your rock stars can be part of your club, but you must elevate them among their peers and demonstrate your appreciation and recognition. 

8. Tell a story. People connect with stories, which makes storytelling an extremely powerful marketing and branding tool. Stories humanize a company; they show “proof” of your claim and resonate with your target market. Every company has a story to tell, and there are at least a half dozen different types of storytelling (as discussed in my book). Which type of story does your company have? 

9. Develop referral tools. Referrals can be nerve-wracking. It can make both you and your customers feel a bit awkward. In order for referral marketing to work, you must have several things going for you, including tools you can give to customers that they can then share with prospects. For example, provide your customers with helpful articles or newsletters, or turn your trade show booth into your own live event and invite people to get their picture with the CEO or some other celebrity (people love that, and it becomes a souvenir they can display). The bottom line: When people have had a great experience with a company, they’re happy to make a referral. You just need to make it easy for them. 

10. Do not “set it and forget it.” Nothing stays fresh and surprising forever. You must continually push the envelope and look for new ways to communicate how you are unique. Nothing, no matter how brilliant it is, is going to stay Uncopyable forever.  

To learn more about the strategies and tools to make your company Uncopyable, check out the updated and expanded edition of Uncopyable: How to Create an Unfair Advantage Over Your Competition, available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Books-a-Million, Porchlight Book Company, Google Play, Apple Books, and other fine retailers. Steve Miller is an author, professional/virtual speaker and business advisor. Since founding The Adventure LLC in 1984, Miller’s consulting clients have ranged from solo entrepreneurs to Fortune 100 megacorporations, including Starbucks, Coca-Cola, and Procter & Gamble. For more information, visit TheAdventure.com. 

Feel Like Your Marketing Underperforms Compared to Competitors? by Steve Miller

I read an article recently on Inc.com that said 60% of small businesses think their revenue growth is below average. 

Let’s think about that. Statistically speaking, 60% CAN’T be underperforming, so this apparent lack of confidence must come from somewhere in the gut, not the spreadsheet. 

Why would that be? Of course, we know our numbers, but not the competition’s. Somewhere along the line we’ve absorbed “clues” that skew our worldview. And for the most part, those heuristics are based on guesses and not facts. 

We “see” how our competition (and ourselves) communicate with the marketplace via marketing communications and media. If we think their marketing is better, we assume their results must be better. 

What’s the rest of the story? How do you fix this? Watch this UNCOPYABLE Business video and see the solution I have for you. 

Think your company should be generating more leads? Or do you feel like your marketing is underperforming? Preorder a copy of Uncopyable: How to Create an Unfair Advantage over Your Competition. 

This article originally appeared on The Adventure. Steve Miller helps businesses grow by achieving Uncopyable Superiority. Since founding The Adventure LLC in 1984, Steve’s consulting clients have ranged from entrepreneurs to Fortune 100 corporations, including Proctor & Gamble, Greystar Real Estate, Caterpillar, Starbucks, Philips Electronics, and Coca-Cola. He’s also consulted for North America’s largest exhibitions, including AEM’s CONEXPO-CON/AGG, the International Manufacturing Technology Show, the International Home & Housewares Show, the Work Truck Show, and the Sweets & Snacks Expo. Preorder your copy of the updated and expanded edition of Steve Miller’s Uncopyable: How to Create an Unfair Advantage over Your Competition from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Books-a-Million, Porchlight Book Company, Google Play, and Apple Books.