1. Qualitative Preference: You should know your customers based upon their level of interaction, involvement and purchase habits. By knowing this information, you can provide a higher quality of products or service, dedicated personnel, customer support, personally assigned customer care, or even 24/7 support. Also, you can offer a warranty or guarantee but use this with discretion and based on your particular service or product.

2. Bundling and Packaging: Having the ability to put desirable packages, purchasing levels and a sequence of added benefits that are substantial in value can provide a great significance, preferably greater than the product or service is worth a la carte.

3. Frequent Buyer Programs: This notion entails that the more someone buys from you, the more benefits they will receive. For example bargains, special offers, other promotional discounts, cash back on your services or products, price reductions, and other related items. Think of frequent flyer programs with airlines.

4. Speediness of Service or Delivery: A great way to differentiate yourself is to make guarantees based on speed, timing, or faster delivery.

 

5. Recognition and Reward Levels: A little different from the frequent buyer programs in which this particular model provides more recognition to clients or customers based upon their ability to utilize your product or service by maximizing its potential. You can give special access, customer points or rewards and free gifts. Think of Nordstrom Fashion Rewards© program or the ULTAmate Rewards© which thanks to loyal guests for choosing ULTA. As a member, they are rewarded with exclusive offers sent via email or mail. The program is free; simply shop like you always do and get rewarded for it which is pretty amazing and keeps customers coming back.

6. Service Levels: It is possible for you to differentiate yourself not only by providing a higher level of service but by adding different levels of service based upon someone’s size, frequency or amount of purchases. You can have gold, platinum or silver levels of service that people qualify for, are willing to pay for, and receive when they do business with you. For example my old consulting company, iStyle Fashion & Beauty Society provided a great membership program for fashion & beauty entrepreneurs. Our levels were Lady Leadership for the aspiring entrepreneur, Divined Duchess for the startup entrepreneur (1st-5th year in Business), and Empowered Empress the established entrepreneur.

7. Dedicated Personnel: This is the best option if you offer a technical product or service which requires customer support. You can assign dedicated staff members to handle your customer’s accounts that are well-educated and familiar with your company’s products or services. You can utilize this tip at any stage of your business but is better to offer it from the start.

8. Transition and Educate: When new customers become a part of your business you may want to provide education, action plans or transition teams or sessions to help them be able to utilize the products or services that you sell to them. The more education they have related to your products or services will help you build a relationship beyond purchasing a product or service. They’ll be more capable at utilizing them. For example, Urban Decay sponsors (pays people to teach how to apply their makeup products) mostly Vloggers, to teach their followers and others about their different products and offers.

9. Providing Expert Advice and A Tremendously High Level of Professionalism: Various consulting companies, accounting firms and even medical professionals are paid for the high level of advice that they provide. However, as a sales professional, in order for you to be able to provide value, you have to be able to provide a superior level of advice that is in correlation with what you offer. Helping them utilize your product or service while setting you apart from your competition. To be considered an expert, you must display a higher level of sophistication, wisdom and understanding about what’s needed of you. Also, you need to invest in a consultant or coach that is familiar with your industry who can better assist you finding out the best way to go about this.

10. Insider Information: This can be accomplished by scheduling a newsletter (electronic or printed) that keeps your customers updated on a regular basis. Anything that relates to your industry or any other valuable information that they’ll learn from what you’ve shared with them.

After reading the top ten ways I advise my clients on sales, I hope you really do not continue to sell the way you always have. If you do, price will continue to rule your business and make sales harder than they have to be.

Apply these ten tips to your day-to-day sales activity not only I guarantee your sales will increase, but you will have added value for your customers. However, it will take a little imagination, innovation and determination to out-work your competitors.