Identifying Possible Competitive Advantages

The key to winning and keeping customers is to understand their requirements and buying procedure better than competitors do and to deliver more value. To the extent that a company may position itself as providing superior value to choose target markets it gains competitive advantage. But solid positions can't be built on empty promises. If a company positions its product as offering the finest quality and service, it has to then deliver the promised quality and service. Therefore, positioning begins with really differentiating the company's marketing offer so that it shall give consumers more value than competitors' offers.

To discover points of differentiation, marketers have to think through the customer's entire experience along the company's product or service. An attentive company can find ways to differentiate itself at each point where it comes in contact by customers. In what specific ways may a company differentiate its offer from those of competitors? A company or market offer may be differentiated with the lines of product, channels, services people, or image.

Companies  may  gain  a  strong  competitive  advantage  through  people  differentiation-training and hiring  better people than their competitors do. Therefore, Disney people are known to be friendly and upbeat. Singapore Airlines enjoys an outstanding reputation largely because of the elegance of its flight attendants.