1. Foundational Marketing: Competitive Differentiators

2. Foundational Marketing Topics
Buyer personas & best clients
The buyer’s journey
Competitive differentiators
Value propositions and elevator pitches
How to tell your story
Content marketing
Advocacy
Build your marketing plan

3. Your differentiators How are you different from your competition? 1.2. 3. 4. 5.

4. How do you differ from your competitors?
This is how prospects decide who to work with

5. Start by listing competitors

6. Example format for listing competitors
What are they selling?
How do they sell?
Deals you won and why
Deals you lost and why
What you have that they don’t
What is their “wow” factor

7. Competitive differentiators
How do you differ?
Client service
Deep vertical market knowledge and experience
Product expertise
Geographies served
Types of businesses served
Cloud experience
Price
What do you have that they don’t?
What is your wow factor?

8. How do you differ from competitors?

9. Example using a scale of -5 to +5
Competitors
Apex
Client Service
+ 5
Unique Solutions or IP
Deep Industry knowledge
Certifications
Deep Product Knowledge
Type of Business Served
Cloud experience +2
Speed to Market
Price -2
Here’s an example of how to score your business compared to your competitors. We suggest using a scale of -5 to +5. You decide how to rank and score each item.
The items listed here are examples. You may choose to include other elements.
Example: One of your competitors is Apex, a large regional company that provides a broad spectrum of products. From your client’s perspective, how do you compare to Apex?
Are you exceptionally better at Client service? Give yourself a +5 on your chart.
Does Apex have somewhat pricing than you? Give yourself a -2 on your chart.
Are you somewhat more cloud-knowledgeable than Apex? Give yourself a +2

10. Let's compare
Look at what you wrote down in the beginning. How does that compare to what you think now?

11. Review Competition is a good thing
You must identify your differentiators
Combine them with your value proposition for powerful messaging and marketing materials