What makes you remarkable?

I was recently sitting with a client and we were starting the process of creating a marketing plan for her. The first thing I asked her was "What makes you remarkable?"

At first, she seemed uncomfortable with the question, as people often are, but soon we were rattling off a series of qualities and traits that she embodied, and that helped her stand apart from her competition. That is the key...separating yourself from your competitors.

The separation lies within the remarkable.

When I look back to my years in our family business, I'm proud of how strong our brand was and still is even after the company is no longer owned by our family. So what made us remarkable? Well, we had a fantastic product, but there were plenty of good products out there...it's a given that you must have a good product these days...

Our remarkable came from the intangibles that supported the product...

• A Strong Leader - My father earned the trust and respect of employees, customers, suppliers and even competitors. He earned the reputation of being an honest, empathetic, loyal ally, and a straightforward, "what you see is what you get" competitor.
  
• Our Family - My brother, sister and I all worked in the business beside my father, and our family earned the respect of the industry through our collective pride, honesty and hard work, as well as our closeness with each other.
  
• Our Employees - We had extremely low employee turnover and an incredible number of people with us for more than ten years. Their devotion was well-known and appreciated throughout the industry.
• Our Warranty - We dared to offer a warranty that far exceeded our competitors, and we honored that warranty whenever required (not often, but we were there). Again, we stood behind our quality products and were not afraid to "put it out there" with an excellent warranty.
• Our Relationships - We knew the extreme importance of developing strong relationships with customers and worked hard to develop and nourish those relationships. Another key was our relationships with industry allies. We joined forces with complimentary businesses with similar remarkable qualities and co-marketed to grow our businesses together to the benefit of the customer.
  

The point is, when you ask yourself "What makes you (your business) remarkable?", look way beyond the product. Your brand, and growth depend on the answers.

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