Competitive advantages of the company: how to form and develop. Ready-made examples of competitive advantages

Talk about the number of completed projects, the volume of products released, publish successful cases. It is very important not to slide into self-praise, but to show how much real value your products or services have brought.

Are your services useful? Tell about it!

Post testimonials from real customers with links to their social media profiles/company websites so that a potential customer can get confirmation. 90% of people won't verify the authenticity of these reviews, but being open on your part will build their trust.

High level of quality/service

And the standard continuation: "Our company employs highly qualified specialists who have undergone special training."

At all qualification of specialists does not speak about the level of service, unless your employees were trained in courses "How to lick a client."

Take an example from hotels for which international service standards have been developed. A person, entering a three-star hotel, already roughly imagines what awaits him: a room with an area of ​​​​at least 12 square meters. m, free bottled water, bathroom with towels, soap and toilet paper.

What awaits the client in your company?

Write to him how quickly they will repair or deliver the goods. Explain how a personal manager will work on solving his problem - step by step, from receiving an application to the result. Convince him that even after completing the order you are always ready to help.

Imagine that you are calling a company about a major contract, and the sales rep replies, "We're having lunch, call me later." And hangs up. Will you call him back or find another supplier?

If the company's employees are not polite and friendly, your "high level of service" is worthless.

And if you want to brag about the professionalism of your employees, tell us about them separately: where they got their qualifications, how long they have been working in their specialty and what they can do.

Individual approach

This expression has not convinced potential customers for a long time, it is so hackneyed. Most often, they simply don’t notice him, and if they notice him, they grin skeptically, mentally saying “well, well, of course.”

Don't believe? Look at your competitors' websites - 99 times out of 100 you will find this phrase, if not on the "About" page, then on some other.

Replace common phrases with specific information.

List everything you rely on when developing a project or completing an order. Explain what you mean by the concept of "individual approach".

For sure, put the fulfillment of the wishes of the customer in the first place. But you understand that others do the same. Agree, it is difficult to imagine a designer who makes a red kitchen for clients who dream of green.

write, What is included in your customer relationship system? →

• How do you meet the needs of each client, depending on the characteristics of their tasks. What exactly do you consider when developing a project or completing an order.

• What additional terms of cooperation at the discretion of the client can you include in a standard contract: different payment schemes, individual discounts, delivery, assembly.

• How broad is the authority of the client who wants to participate in the process or observe it with the possibility of adjustment. At what point wishes are no longer accepted.

Low prices and/or great deals

Another "nothing" stamp. And if you consider that not only low, but also high prices can drive sales with equal success, then this advantage becomes completely useless.

Instead of empty words use honest numbers.

For example: we offer Scandinavian-style kitchens at a price of 20,000 rubles per square meter, the basic package includes standard sections, a countertop, a sink, and a dish dryer.

Or: in January, we reduce the cost of the Shikardos collection by 30% - when ordering a kitchen 3 meters long, you save 25,000 rubles.

Most often, low prices are spoken by those companies that have nothing else to hook the client with. Do not deny the buyer the minimum mathematical ability. Believe me, he will do a great job comparing prices on his own.

When choosing a product, the buyer compares several alternative (not identical!) Options:

• wooden houses - with brick and aerated concrete
• white gold jewelry - with silver and platinum
• facial mesotherapy - with sculptural massage and plasma lifting.

Make a comparison table, according to the results of which your offer wins as the safest, fastest, most durable (warm, prestigious, comfortable - pick the advantages of your product or service). And then the price will fade into the background.

A wide range of

These 18 characters without spaces will only become an advantage when the client sees them as a solution to their problems →

• Possibility to choose from a certain assortment group. You can offer dozens or even hundreds of gold rings, but the buyer is interested in a specific size. And if it does not appear on the showcase of an online store, for the client the slogan about the richness of the assortment will remain zilch. Initially, a loyal visitor will go to competitors next time, so as not to be disappointed again.

• Opportunity to purchase related products- a lid for a frying pan, a brush for collecting animal hair - for a vacuum cleaner, wipes for cleaning the screen - for a monitor. This is beneficial for both parties. The client buys everything in one place and saves on delivery, the seller increases profits by 5-15%.

• Possibility to order a turnkey service. When you talk about a wide range company services, list them. Specify which of them you provide separately, and which - only in the complex. For example, a consulting company performs naming exclusively as part of a multi-stage company registration service, while assistance in preparing documents may be outside of it.

Often a list of useless benefits is placed in the "About Us" section. Already fixed? Great! Now check if you used all the methods of persuading customers on the "About" page. Look for arguments that are right on target.

And in the comments, admit it, often professional professionals with an individual approach work in your companies? 😉

About the author.

⏱ reading time: 15 minutes

The goal of a marketing strategy is to understand and deal with the competition. Some companies are always ahead of others. Industry affiliation does not matter - the gap in the profitability of companies within the same industry is higher than the differences between industries.

Differences between companies are especially important in times of crisis, when the competitive advantage created is an excellent foundation for profitable growth.

Competitive advantages of the company

• Advantage Any success factor that increases a consumer's willingness to pay or reduces a company's costs.
• Competitive advantage- a significant success factor for the consumer, in which the company surpasses all competitors

Building a competitive advantage means achieving a larger gap between costs and the buyer's willingness to pay for a product than competitors.

Step 1. Determine success factors

The answer to the question “how to create a competitive advantage for a company” is not so important. If you are confident that you will achieve superiority over competitors through 24/7 delivery, then you will find a solution for how to realize this competitive advantage. It is much more difficult to determine what exactly they will become.

To do this, first of all, we write out all the advantages, or success factors, that are important for buyers. For example, here are.

Step 2. Segmenting the target audience

A separate shuttle for business class passengers is an advantage. But the achievement of this competitive advantage is completely indifferent for those flying in the "economy" segment. The definition of competitive advantages always takes place for a specific segment of the target audience - with its specific needs and desires.

The decision to sell to “everyone” leads to the question of where to look for these “everyone” and what to offer them. It turns out that “everyone” must be searched “everywhere” and offered “everything”. Such a strategy will kill the budget of any company.

Take the example of achieving competitive advantage for a flower company. Among the target audience, we will single out segments of those who buy flowers impulsively, prepare a pre-planned gift, or, say, decorate houses.

Having determined for whom we are going to form a competitive advantage, we will evaluate whether it is worth it - we will give an assessment of the market capacity and the intensity of competition in each segment.

Read more about segmentation criteria in our article: ""

Step 3. Identify Key Success Factors

The buyer is demanding. For him, many factors are important - from the consultant's smile and website design to low prices. But if the buyer wants something, this does not mean at all that he is ready to pay for it.

The significance of competitive advantage is the willingness of the buyer to pay for it. How more money willing to pay for the development of a competitive advantage - the higher its importance.

Our task is to form a very short list of key success factors that can determine the company's competitive advantages from a long list of various "wants" of the consumer.

In our example, the key success factors are the same for all three target audience segments. In real life, each segment usually has 1-2 of its own factors.

Step 4. Assess the importance of key success factors for target audience segments

What is important for one segment of the target audience may be a weak competitive advantage for consumers from another segment.

If you got the idea to buy flowers to give them this evening, then for an impulsive decision, the main thing is the appearance (fullness of the bud opening) and the speed of the purchase. This is more important than the ability to choose from a large assortment, the life span of a bouquet - it is necessary that the flowers are and look good that particular evening.

The opposite situation is buying flowers to decorate the house. Delivery does not "burn", but the question of how long the flowers will last comes to the fore.

Therefore, the importance of key success factors is determined for each segment of the target audience separately.

*) we clarify - KFU are taken as an example, close to life, but not reflecting the real case.

For our company, determining the right competitive advantages that allow our customers to attract more consumers, get more money from them and interact with them for longer is one of the main blocks of the developed marketing strategy. Therefore, in we are striving to achieve an ideal situation - when each cell of all the tables in this article is expressed in money. It is possible to create a working marketing strategy only by understanding the cost of CFU from the point of view of the buyer, the market volume, costs, etc.

All this information is available. But sometimes there is no time or resources for this. Then we advise you to use a comparison on a 5 or 10-point scale. In this case, remember that any factual data is better than guesswork. Hypotheses need to be put forward based on the big data of the company, monitoring customer reviews, observing the process of selling competitors, and not taking it out of your head “because it seems so to me”. Expert forecasts too often do not work.

Step 5. Compare achieved competitive advantages

At this point, we figured out what is important for your consumers. This is good. It's bad that competitors are also in the know.

To understand the starting conditions, it is necessary to assess the current degree of development of the company's competitive advantages. Strictly speaking, you have a competitive advantage only when your offer outperforms all direct competitors in some key success factor.

The assessment of competitive advantages is made exclusively from the point of view of consumers. The opinion of the company's employees, and especially the management, does not say anything. The director may be proud of the site developed according to his idea, on which millions have been spent, but this in no way indicates the convenience of the site for clients.

Step 6. Identify sources of competitive advantage

Any competitive advantage is the result of the company's activities. Each action incurs costs and at the same time affects the buyer's willingness to purchase the product. Differences in the results of these actions form competitive advantages.

Therefore, we make a list of all the activities of the company by desegregating its activities into separate processes. In projects, we start the analysis with the activities that are necessary to produce the basic product or service, and only then add related activities.

Step 7. Linking key success factors and company performance

Competitive advantage is formed at the intersection of various activities. For example, the growth of the assortment in the flower trade requires an increase in working capital, the availability of storage space for products, sufficient area of ​​points of sale, additional qualification of sellers and service personnel, etc.

We determine which business processes are associated with the development of each of the found competitive advantages and the size of their contribution.

Step 8. Estimate the company's costs of creating competitive advantages

At this step, we look at how much it costs to achieve a competitive advantage. Any activity of the company has its costs.

In our example, we evaluate the level of costs on a scale of 1 to 10, but in real life, a company must know its costs more or less accurately. Pay attention to the calculation methodology - usually accountants tend to record most of the costs in production, thereby reducing indirect costs.

Having understood the size of the costs, we determine their drivers. Why are the costs the way they are? Maybe we pay a lot for shipping because the size of the business is small and we do not have enough cargo? There are many cost drivers. They depend on the size of the firm, its geographical location, institutional factors, access to resources, etc.

Cost driver analysis helps to assess the costs of competitors to create a similar competitive advantage. It is difficult to obtain data directly, but by understanding the drivers that affect the amount of costs, one can assume the level of expenses of competitors.

Step 9. Looking for resources to create a competitive advantage

Maintaining the achieved competitive superiority at a constant level is possible only if there are sufficient resources. In addition, the analysis of the resources available to the company helps to choose the area of ​​rapid formation of competitive advantage.

Step 10. Choose a direction for developing a competitive advantage

We look at the two resulting final pictures and reflect. There are only three possibilities for achieving competitive advantage:

• increase willingness to buy a product without raising costs too much
• sharply reduce costs, with little effect on willingness to buy
• increase willingness to buy and reduce costs at the same time.

The third direction looks the most attractive. But finding such a solution is extremely difficult. Typically, companies simply waste valuable resources trying to build competitive advantage across the board.

Basic rules for determining competitive advantage.

• We are looking for options that create the largest gap between the buyer's willingness to pay and our costs.
• We do not try to select all attractive options at once. Having decided to occupy one peak, we will not climb another. It is most profitable to choose a peak that is not crowded with competitors.
• We remember competitors, what drives each of them. If you decide to change some business process, how will your closest competitor react?

• success factors. The more you find, the better. Habit managers typically focus on a few product features. This reduces the perception of the benefits that the consumer receives and brings your marketing strategy closer to that of competitors. To find competitive advantages that aren't as competitive, think about the benefits the company creates for all of its stakeholders: customers, employees, suppliers, dealers, and so on.
• Key success factors. The more significant the factor, the more restructuring of the company's activities it requires. If you are not among the industry leaders, it is better not to try to immediately compete on the main factors, or groups of factors ("best in quality")
• Market. The question should not be “can we create a competitive advantage for this segment of the target audience”, but “can we create a competitive advantage for this segment of the target audience and remain profitable.” Having current costs in hand, we assume how much the company will pay for turning a key success factor into a full-fledged competitive advantage
• Current competitive position. It is difficult to build up a competitive advantage in which you are hopelessly behind. Especially if it is a capital-intensive or time-consuming process.
• Costs. Competitive advantage can be gained by focusing on costs that differ most from competitors, are large enough to affect the overall cost structure, and are associated with separate activities.

Fear often hinders competitive advantage. The desire to become the best will necessarily entail an increase in prices or, conversely, a decrease in the desire to buy our product. Reducing costs reduces the desire of the client to use our service (a ticket for a low-cost airline is cheap, but you can’t take luggage with you, there is no food, airports are far away). Improving product performance leads to higher costs. This is absolutely normal. The only important thing is to widen the gap between the buyer's willingness to pay and the company's costs.

Step 11. We create competitive advantages by changing the company's actions

As I wrote above, the creation of competitive advantages is the result of the company's actions. In order for the offer to surpass all competitors, it is necessary to reconfigure some of the activities.

For example, achieving a competitive advantage "low cost". It is pointless to try to compete with a discounter by simply cutting prices. A successful discounter has become so because much of the company's activities are dedicated to creating this competitive advantage. If a Walmart employee wants to borrow a new pen, he or she returns the old one. There are no trifles in creating a competitive advantage.

Again, we look at the connection between the chosen competitive advantage and the company's activities. Where is this competitive advantage created? And we invest in the development of selected business processes.

Ask yourself the following questions

• Are our actions different from those of our competitors?
• Are we doing the same things but in a different way?
• How can we change our set of activities to gain a competitive advantage?

As a result, determine the minimum and sufficient set of activities that the company must perform in order to form a competitive advantage. Usually they try to copy only obvious things, forgetting that much is hidden under water. It is the complex of activities that creates a competitive advantage that cannot be copied.

Actions aimed at developing a competitive advantage should be linked by a single logic. A classic example of M. Porter is SouthWest Airlines' set of actions that created its competitive advantage. As a result, the airline was the only low-cost carrier on the market for 25 years. It is impossible to achieve a similar competitive advantage with a swoop.

In fact, this is the marketing strategy. Such a set of actions is almost impossible to copy and surpass.

Strategic management is designed to ensure the survival of the company in the long term. Of course, when we are talking about survival in a market competitive environment, there is no question that the company can drag out a miserable existence. It is very important to understand that as soon as someone from those who are associated with the company, this connection becomes not a joy, he moves away from the company, and after a while it dies. Therefore, survival in the long term automatically means that the company is quite successfully coping with its tasks, bringing satisfaction to those who enter into the sphere of its business interaction with its activities. First of all, this applies to customers, employees of the company and its owners.

The concept of competitive advantage

How can an organization ensure its long-term survival, which must be inherent in it so that it can cope with its tasks? The answer to this question is quite obvious: the organization must produce a product that will consistently find buyers. This means that the product must be, firstly, so interesting to the buyer that he is ready to give money for it, and, secondly, more interesting to the buyer than a product similar or similar in consumer qualities produced by other firms. If a product has these two properties, then the product is said to have competitive advantages.

Therefore, a firm can successfully exist and develop only if its product has competitive advantages. Strategic management is called upon to create competitive advantages.

Consideration of the issue of creating and maintaining competitive advantages involves an analysis of the relationship and, accordingly, the interaction of three subjects of the market environment. The first subject is “our” company that produces a certain product. ect is a buyer who may or may not buy this product. The third killer is competitors who are ready to sell their products to the buyer that can satisfy the same need that and a product manufactured by "our" firm. The main thing in this market "love" triangle is the buyer. Therefore, the competitive advantages of a product are the value for the buyer contained in the product, which encourages him to buy this product. Competitive advantage does not necessarily arise from comparing "our" firm's product with competitors' products. It may be that there are no firms on the market offering a competitive product, yet the product of “our” firm is not for sale. This means that it does not have sufficient value for the buyer or competitive advantages.

Types of competitive advantages

What creates competitive advantage? It is believed that there are two possibilities for this. First, the product itself can have competitive advantages. One kind of competitive advantage of a product is its price feature. Very often, the buyer purchases a product only because it is cheaper than other products with similar consumer properties. Sometimes a product is bought just because it is very cheap. Such purchases can occur even if the product has no utility for the buyer.

The second type of competitive advantage is differentiation. In this case, we are talking about the fact that the product has distinctive features that make it attractive to the buyer. Differentiation is not necessarily related to the consumer (utilitarian) qualities of the product (reliability, ease of use, good functional characteristics, etc.). It can be achieved at the expense of such characteristics that have nothing to do with its utilitarian consumer properties, for example, at the expense of the brand.

Second, in addition to creating a competitive advantage in a product, a firm may be trying to create a competitive advantage in its product. market position. This is achieved by securing the buyer, or, in other words, by monopolizing part of the market. In principle, this situation is contrary to market relations, since in it the buyer is deprived of the opportunity to choose. However, in real practice, many firms manage not only to create such a competitive advantage for their product, but also to maintain it for a long time.

Strategy for creating competitive advantage

There are three strategies for creating competitive advantage. The first strategy is price leadership. With this strategy, the focus of the firm in the development and production of the product is cost. The main sources of creating price advantages are:

Rational business management based on accumulated experience;

Economies of scale by reducing costs per unit of output with an increase in production volume;

Savings on diversity as a result of cost reduction due to the synergistic effect that occurs in the production of various products;

Optimization of intra-company communications, contributing to the reduction of company-wide costs;

Integration of distribution networks and supply systems;

Optimization of the company's activities in time;

The geographic location of the company's activities, which allows to achieve cost reduction through the use of local features.

Bringing to life pricing strategy To create a competitive advantage for a product, the firm should not forget that its product must at the same time meet a certain level of differentiation. Only in this case, price leadership can bring a significant effect. If the quality of the price leader's product is significantly lower than the quality of similar products, then creating a price competitive advantage may require such a strong price reduction that it can lead to negative consequences for the firm. However, it should be borne in mind that the price leadership strategy and the differentiation strategy should not be mixed, and even more so should not be attempted to implement them at the same time.

Differentiationis the second strategy for creating competitive advantage. With this strategy, the firm tries to give the product something distinctive, unusual, that the buyer may like and for which the buyer is willing to pay. A differentiation strategy aims to make a product different from what competitors do. To achieve this, the firm has to go beyond the functional properties of the product.

Firms do not necessarily use differentiation to gain a price premium. Differentiation can help expand sales by increasing the number of products sold, or by stabilizing consumption, regardless of fluctuations in market demand.

In the case of implementing a strategy for creating competitive advantages through differentiation, it is very important to focus on consumer priorities and the interests of the buyer. Earlier it was said that the differentiation strategy involves creating a product that is unique in its own way, different from the products of competitors. But it is important to remember that in order to have a competitive advantage, it is necessary that the unusualness of the product, its novelty or uniqueness be of value to the buyer. Therefore, the differentiation strategy assumes, as a starting point, the study of the interests of the consumer. For this you need:

It is enough to clearly present not just who the buyer is, but who makes the decision on the purchase;

To study consumer criteria by which a choice is made when purchasing a product (price, functional properties, guarantees, delivery time, etc.);

Determine the factors that shape the buyer's idea of ​​the product (sources of information about the properties of the product, image, etc.).

After that, based on the ability to create a product of an appropriate degree of differentiation and an appropriate price (the price should allow the buyer to purchase a differentiated product), the company can begin to develop and manufacture this product.

A third strategy that a firm can use to create competitive advantage in its product is focus on the interests of specific consumers. In this case, the company creates its product specifically for specific customers. Concentrated product creation is associated with the fact that either some unusual need of a certain group of people is satisfied (in this case, the firm's product is very specialized), or a specific system of access to the product is created (the system for selling and delivering the product). By pursuing a strategy of concentrated creation of competitive advantages, the firm can use both price attraction of buyers and differentiation at the same time.

As can be seen, all three strategies for creating competitive advantages have significant distinctive features that allow us to conclude that the company must clearly define for itself what strategy it is going to implement, and in no case mix these strategies. At the same time, it should be noted that there is a certain relationship between these strategies, and this should also be taken into account by firms when creating competitive advantages.

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From this article you will learn:

• What are the types of competitive advantages of the company
• What are the main competitive advantages of the company
• How is the formation and evaluation of the competitive advantages of the company
• How to use competitive advantages to increase sales

Over time, humanity reaches new heights, receiving more and more new knowledge. This also applies to business. Each firm is on the hunt for the most profitable marketing solutions, trying to build things differently and showcase their products in the best light. All enterprises sooner or later face competition, and therefore the competitive advantages of the company play an important role in the market, which help the consumer to decide on the choice of product.

What are the company's competitive advantages

Competitive advantages companies are those characteristics, properties of a brand or product that create a certain superiority for the company over direct competitors. The development of the economic sphere is impossible without competitive advantages. They are part of the corporate style of the company, and also provide it with protection from competitors' attacks.

A company's sustainable competitive advantage is the development of a profitable development plan for the company, with the help of which its most promising opportunities are realized. Such a plan shall not be used by any present or purported competitive companies and the results of the implementation of the plan should not be adopted by them.

The development of a company's competitive advantages is based on its goals and objectives, which are achieved in accordance with the company's position in the market for goods and services, as well as the level of success in their implementation. The reform of the functioning system should create a basis for the effective development of the factors of the company's competitive advantages, as well as create a strong relationship between this process and existing market conditions.

What are the types of competitive advantages of a company?

What are the company's competitive advantages? There are two types of competitive advantage:

1. Artificial competitive advantages: individual approach, advertising campaigns, guarantee and so on.
2. Natural competitive advantages of the company: product cost, buyers, competent management and so on.

An interesting fact: if a firm does not strive to get ahead in the market of goods and services, referring to a number of such enterprises, it somehow has natural competitive advantages. In addition, it has every opportunity to develop artificial competitive advantages for the company, spending some time and effort on this. This is where all the knowledge about competitors is needed, since their activities need to be analyzed first.

Why do we need to analyze the competitive advantage of a company?

An interesting note about Runet: as a rule, about 90% of entrepreneurs do not analyze their competitors, and also do not develop competitive advantages using this analysis. There is only an exchange of some innovations, that is, firms adopt the ideas of competitors. It doesn't matter who first came up with something new, it will still be "taken away". This is how clichés like this came to light:

• Highly qualified specialist;
• Personal approach;
• Top quality;
• Competitive cost;
• First class service.

And others, which in fact do not represent a competitive advantage of the company, since no self-respecting enterprise will declare that its products are of poor quality, and its staff are newcomers.

Oddly enough, you can look at it from the other side. If the competitive advantages of companies are minimal, then it is easier for start-up firms to develop, that is, to gather their potential consumers, who receive a wider choice.

Therefore, it is necessary to correctly work out strategic competitive advantages that will provide customers with a profitable purchase and positive emotions. Customer satisfaction must come from the enterprise, not from the product.

What are the sources of the company's competitive advantage

There is a fairly well-established structure of the company's competitive advantages. At one time, Michael Porter identified three main sources for developing a company's competitive advantages: differentiation, cost, and focus. Now in more detail about each of them:

• Differentiation

The implementation of this strategy of the company's competitive advantages is based on a more efficient provision of services to the company's customers, as well as the presentation of the company's products in the best light.

• Costs

The implementation of this strategy is based on the following competitive advantages of the company: minimum costs for employees, automation of production, minimum costs for scale, the ability to apply limited resources, as well as the use of patented technologies that reduce production costs.

• Focus

This strategy is based on the same sources as the previous two, but the company's accepted competitive advantage covers the needs of a narrow circle of customers. Customers outside this group are either dissatisfied with such competitive advantages of the company, or they are not affected in any way.

The main (natural) competitive advantages of the company

Every firm has a natural competitive advantage. But not all enterprises cover them. This is a group of companies whose competitive advantages are either, as they believe, obvious or disguised as conventional clichés. So, the main competitive advantages of the company are:

1. Price. Like it or not, one of the main advantages of any company. If the price of a firm's goods or services is lower than competitive prices, this price gap is usually indicated immediately. For example, “prices are 15% lower” or “we offer retail products at a wholesale price.” It is very important to indicate prices in this way, especially if the company operates in the corporate sphere (B2B).
2. Timing (time). Be sure to specify the exact delivery time for each type of product. This is a very important point in developing a company's competitive advantage. Here it is worth avoiding inaccurate definitions in terms (“we will deliver quickly”, “we will deliver just in time”).
3. Experience. When the staff of your company are professionals in their field, who know all the "pitfalls" of doing business, then convey this to consumers. They like to cooperate with specialists who can be contacted on all issues of interest.
4. Special conditions. They may include the following: exclusive supply offers (discount system, convenient location of the company, extensive warehouse program, included gifts, payment after delivery, and so on).
5. Authority. The authority factor includes: various achievements of the company, prizes at exhibitions, competitions and other events, awards, well-known suppliers or buyers. All this increases the popularity of your company. A very significant element is the status of a professional expert, which involves the participation of your employees at various conferences, in advertising interviews, and on the Internet.
6. Narrow specialization. This type of competitive advantage is best explained with an example. The owner of an expensive car wants to replace some parts in his car and he is faced with a choice: go to a specialized salon that services only cars of his brand, or to a standard car repair shop. Of course, he will choose a professional salon. This is a component of a unique selling proposition (USP) that is often used as a competitive advantage for a company.
7. Other actual benefits. Such competitive advantages of the company include: a wider range of products, patented manufacturing technology, the adoption of a special plan for the sale of goods, and so on. The main thing here is to stand out.

Artificial competitive advantages of the company

Artificial competitive advantages able to help the firm to tell about itself, if it does not have special offers. This may come in handy when:

1. The firm has a set-up similar to competitors (competitive advantages of companies in a particular field of activity are the same).
2. The company is located between large and small enterprises (does not have a large assortment of goods, does not have a narrow focus and sells products at a standard price).
3. The company is at the initial stage of development, having no special competitive advantages, customer base and popularity among consumers. Often this happens when specialists decide to leave the workplace and create their own enterprise.

In such cases, it is necessary to develop artificial competitive advantages, which are:

1. Added value. For example, a company sells computers without being able to compete on price. In this case, you can use the following competitive advantage of companies: install an operating system and the necessary standard programs on a PC, and then slightly increase the cost of equipment. This is the added value, which also includes all sorts of promotions and bonus offers.
2. Personal adjustment. This competitive advantage of the company works great if competitors hide behind standard clichés. Its meaning is to demonstrate the face of the company and apply the WHY formula. He is successful in every field of activity.
3. Responsibility. Quite an effective competitive advantage of the company. It goes well with personality tuning. A person likes to deal with people who can vouch for their products or services.
4. Guarantees. Generally, there are two types of warranties: circumstance (for example, a liability guarantee – “if you haven’t received a receipt, we will pay for your purchase”) and product or service warranties (for example, the ability for a consumer to return or exchange an item within up to one months).
5. Reviews. Unless, of course, they are ordered. For potential consumers, the status of a person who speaks about your company is important. This advantage works great when reviews are presented on a special form with a certified signature of a person.
6. Demonstration. It is one of the main competitive advantages of the company. If the company does not have advantages, or they are not obvious, then it can make an illustrated presentation of its product. If the company works in the service sector, then you can make a video presentation. The main thing here is to correctly focus on the properties of products.
7. Cases. But there may not be cases, especially for newcomers. In this case, it is possible to develop artificial cases, the essence of which is to provide services either to ourselves, or to a potential buyer, or to an existing client on the basis of netting. Then you will receive a case that will show the level of professionalism of your company.
8. Unique selling proposition. It has already been mentioned in this article. The meaning of the USP is that the company operates with a certain detail, or provides data that separates it from competitors. This competitive advantage of the company is effectively used by the company "Practicum Group", which offers training programs.

Personnel as a competitive advantage of the company

Unfortunately, today not every management sees in the staff an excellent competitive advantage of the company. Based on the developed strategies and goals, firms come to the need to build, develop and strengthen the personal qualities of employees they need. But at the same time, companies come to the need to apply a certain combination of developed strategies (this also applies to internal management).

Based on this, you need to pay attention to a couple important points: identify and develop the quality of personnel, creating a competitive advantage for the company, and explain the usefulness of investing in this resource.

If the goal of management is to create a competitive advantage for the company in the face of personnel, then work on the personal characteristics of employees, as well as the concept of the essence and effectiveness of the aspects that are revealed in teamwork (emergence and synergy), are very important here.

The process of becoming a team as a competitive advantage of the company is not complete without resolving some points that the company's management should take into account:

1. Competent organization of the activities of employees.
2. The interest of employees in the successful achievement of tasks.
3. Formation of the desire of the team to actively participate in the process of obtaining high results.
4. Support for the personal qualities of employees necessary for the company.
5. Development of company commitment.

It is worth paying attention to the essence of the proposed aspects that form the competitive advantage of the company in the face of its staff.

Not a few well-known large organizations win in the competition precisely due to the effective use of personnel as a competitive advantage of the company, as well as due to the gradual increase in the level of interest of employees in achieving their goals. The main criteria for success in the process of using all possible resources are: the desire of employees to remain part of the company and work for its benefit, the dedication of the staff to their company, the confidence of the staff in success and the sharing by them of the principles and values ​​of their company.

It is characterized by the following elements:

• Identification. Assumes that employees have a sense of pride in their firm, as well as a factor in the appropriation of goals (when employees take the tasks of the firm as their own).
• Involvement. It assumes the desire of employees to invest their own strength, actively participate in achieving high results.
• Loyalty. It implies a psychological attachment to the company, the desire to continue working for its benefit.

These criteria are extremely important in shaping the competitive advantage of the company in the face of personnel.

The degree of employee loyalty is closely related to the level of staff response to external or internal stimulation.

When developing the competitive advantage of the company in the face of the staff, it is worth noting some aspects that reveal the dedication of employees:

• Dedicated employees strive to improve their skills.
• Dedicated employees stand by their views without being manipulated or otherwise negatively influenced.
• Dedicated employees strive to achieve maximum success.
• Committed employees are able to take into account the interests of all members of the team, to see something beyond the boundaries of the goal.
• Dedicated employees are always open to something new.
• Committed employees have a higher degree of respect not only for themselves, but also for other people.

Loyalty is a multifaceted concept. It contains the ethics of the team, and the degree of its motivation, and the principles of its activities, and the degree of job satisfaction. That is why the competitive advantage in the face of personnel is one of the most effective. This commitment is reflected in the relationship employees have with everyone around them in the workplace.

When management wants to create a competitive advantage in the face of staff, the challenge is to build employee loyalty. The prerequisites for the formation are divided into two types: personal characteristics of employees and working conditions.

Competitive advantages of the company in the face of personnel are formed with the help of the following personality traits employees:

• Reasons for choosing this field of activity.
• Motivation of work and labor principles.
• Education.
• Age.
• Family status.
• existing work ethic.
• Convenience of the territorial location of the company.

Competitive advantages of the company in the face of personnel are formed with the help of following conditions labor activity:

• The level of interest of employees in achieving the maximum success of the company.
• Employee awareness level.
• The degree of stress of employees.
• The degree of satisfaction of important needs of employees (wages, working conditions, the opportunity to show their creative potential, and so on).

But it is necessary to take into account the dependence of loyalty on the personal characteristics of the staff and the atmosphere in the companies themselves. And therefore, if the management set out to create a competitive advantage for the company in the face of its personnel, it first needs to analyze how much the problems in this company are exacerbated that can negatively affect the loyalty of employees.

Brand as a competitive advantage of the company

Today, in order to fight competitors, companies include additional services in the list of basic ones, introduce new methods of doing business, put both personnel and each consumer in priority. Competitive advantages of the company follow from the analysis of the market, the development of a plan for its development, obtaining important information. Firms in the process of competition and constant change need to work with internal management organization, and developing a strategy that ensures a strong position of stable competitiveness and allows you to follow the changing situation in the market. Today, in order to maintain competitiveness, it is important for firms to master modern principles of management and production, which will allow companies to create competitive advantages.

Trademark (brand) of the company, when properly used, can increase its income, increase the number of sales, replenish the existing range, inform the buyer about the exclusive benefits of a product or service, stay in this field of activity, and also introduce effective development methods. This is why a brand can serve as a competitive advantage for a company. Management that does not take this factor into account will never see their organization among the leaders. But a trademark is a rather expensive option for a company's competitive advantage, which requires special management skills, knowledge of the company's positioning methods, and experience in working with a brand. There are several stages of development trademark related specifically to the topic of its relationship with competition:

1. Goal setting:
   • Formulation of the goals and objectives of the company (the initial stage for the formation of any competitive advantages of the company).
   • Establishing the importance of the brand within the company.
   • Establishing the necessary position of the brand (characteristics, long-term, competitive advantages of the company).
   • Establish measurable brand criteria (KPIs).

1. Development plan:
   • Evaluation of existing resources (the initial stage for the formation of any competitive advantages of the company).
   • Approval of customers and all performers.
   • Approval of development deadlines.
   • Identification of additional goals or obstacles.

1. Assessing the existing position of the brand (applies to existing brands):
   • Popularity of the brand among customers.
   • Brand awareness of potential customers.
   • Brand loyalty to potential customers.
   • The degree of brand loyalty.

1. Assessment of the state of affairs in the market:
   • Assessment of competitors (the initial stage for the formation of any competitive advantages of the company).
   • Evaluation of a potential consumer (the criteria are preferences and needs).
   • Evaluation of the sales market (supply, demand, development).

1. The wording of the essence of the brand:
   • Purpose, position and benefits of the brand for potential customers.
   • Exclusivity (competitive advantages for the company, value, characteristics).
   • Trademark attributes (components, appearance, main idea).

1. Brand Management Planning:
   • Work on the development of marketing elements and clarification of the brand management process (included in the brand book of the organization).
   • Appointment of employees responsible for brand promotion.

1. Introduction and increasing the popularity of the brand (it is on this stage that the success of the company's competitive advantages in terms of brand promotion depends):
   • Media plan development.
   • Ordering promotional materials.
   • Distribution of promotional materials.
   • Multifunctional loyalty programs.

1. Analysis of the effectiveness of the brand and the work done:
   • Evaluation of the quantitative characteristics of the brand (KPI) established at the first stage.
   • Comparison of the obtained results with the planned ones.
   • Making changes to the strategy.

A necessary criterion for the effective implementation of a trademark as a competitive advantage of a company is adherence to a single corporate style, which is a visual and semantic integrity of the company's image. The components of corporate style are: the name of the product, trademark, trademark, motto, corporate colors, uniforms of employees and other elements of the company's intellectual property. Corporate style is a set of oral, color, visual, individually designed constants (components) that guarantee the company the visual and semantic integrity of the company's products, its information resources, as well as its overall structure. Corporate style can also act as a competitive advantage of the company. Its existence suggests that the head of the firm aims to make a good impression on customers. The main purpose of branding is to evoke positive feelings in the client that he experienced when buying the products of this enterprise. If other components of marketing are at their best, then the corporate style is able to create some competitive advantages for the company (precisely within the framework of the topic of opportunities for competition):

• It has a positive effect on the aesthetic position and visual perception of the company;
• It enhances the effectiveness of collective work, can rally the staff, increases the interest of employees and the feeling of their need for the organization (competitive advantage of the company in the face of staff);
• Contributes to the achievement of integrity in the advertising campaign and other marketing communications of the organization;
• Reduces communication development costs;
• Increases the effectiveness of advertising projects;
• Reduces the cost of selling new products;
• It makes it easier for customers to navigate information flows, allows them to accurately and quickly find the company's products.

The brand association consists of four elements that are also important to consider when developing a company's competitive advantages:

1. intangible criteria. This includes everything that has to do with brand information: its idea, degree of popularity and distinctive features.
2. Tangible criteria. Here, the influence on the sense organs plays a very important role. These criteria are functional (a special form for more convenient use, for example), physical, as well as visual (displaying a trademark on advertising materials). Both tangible and intangible criteria are essential in developing a company's competitive advantage.
3. emotional characteristics. A brand is a competitive advantage for a company when it inspires positive emotions and customer confidence. Here it is necessary to use tangible criteria (for example, a unique advertising campaign). Experts argue that these criteria create an opinion among customers about the intangible characteristics of the brand.
4. Rational characteristics. They are based on product performance criteria (e.g. economical vehicles from Volkswagen or Duracell batteries that last “up to ten times longer”), the way they communicate with consumers (Amazon is an example), and relationships. between customers and the company that owns the brand (promotions for regular customers from various airlines). Accounting for rational characteristics is very important in the formation of the company's competitive advantages.

When developing the competitive advantages of a company, it is necessary to know the main carriers of the corporate style components:

• Service component parts (stickers big size, large panels, wall-mounted calendars, and so on).
• Components of office work (corporate letterheads, recorder forms, blocks of paper materials for notes, and so on).
• Advertising on paper (catalogs, all kinds of calendars, booklets, brochures, and so on).
• Souvenir products (fountain pens, T-shirts, stationery for the office, and so on).
• Elements of propaganda (materials in the media, design of halls for various events, propaganda prospectus).
• Documentation (business cards, passes, certificates for staff, and so on).
• Other forms (corporate banner, packaging materials with company symbols, employee uniforms, and so on).

The trade mark also influences the competitive advantage of the company in the face of personnel, contributing to the rallying of employees who feel their importance to the organization. It turns out that a trademark is an element of the company's development process, increasing its income and sales, as well as contributing to the replenishment of the product range and increasing customer awareness of all positive aspects service or product. These conditions enhance the competitive advantages of the company.

Competitive advantages of the company: examples of global giants

Example #1. Competitive advantages of Apple:

1. Technologies. This is one of the main competitive advantages of an innovative company. Each element of software and technological support is developed within the framework of one enterprise, and therefore the components harmonize perfectly in the aggregate. This makes the work of developers easier, provides a high quality product and reduces costs. For the consumer, comfort in use and elegant appearance of devices play an important role. A complete set of necessary parts and programs is not only a competitive advantage for the company, but also a fact that makes consumers buy new gadgets.
2. H.R. One of the company's leading competitive advantages is its staff. Apple hires high-class professionals (the most able-bodied, creative and advanced) and tries to keep them in the company, providing decent wages, various bonuses for personal achievements. In addition, it saves costs for unskilled employees and for child labour at Inventec and Foxconn suppliers.
3. Consumer confidence. With the help of an effective PR strategy and a marketing company strategy, an organization manages to create a permanent client base for itself, as well as increase the popularity of the brand. All this increases the success of applying the competitive advantages of the international company Apple. For example, the company collaborates with promising musicians (YaeNaim, Royksopp, Feist, and so on). Famous organizations(for example, SciencesPoParis) enter into contracts for the complete acquisition of their libraries with the company's products. Around the world, there are about 500 stores that sell only products from Apple.
4. Innovation. This is the main competitive advantage of an innovative company. By investing in R&D, the organization quickly responds to emerging customer needs. An example is the Macintosh, developed in 1984, which gained commercial popularity and had graphical elements that were in demand among users, and also had changes in command system. In 2007, the first iPhone was released, which gained immense popularity. MacBookAir does not lose its position, still remaining the thinnest laptop of our time. These competitive advantages of the company are a great success, and they are undeniable.
5. Organization of the supply chain. Popularity Apple brand contributes to the fact that the company has concluded many productive contracts with supplier plants. This provides the firm with its own supply and cuts off supply for competitors who need to purchase the right components in the market at a higher cost. This is a great competitive advantage for a company that weakens competitors. Apple often invests in supply chain improvements that generate more revenue. For example, in the 90s, many companies transported computers by water, but Apple on the eve of Christmas overpaid about $ 50 million for transporting products by air. This competitive advantage of the company eliminated competitors, because they did not want or did not guess to transport the goods in this way. Moreover, the company maintains strict control over suppliers, constantly requesting documentation of expenses.

Example #2. Competitive advantages of Coca-Cola

1. .Main advantages The main competitive advantage of the Coca-Cola trading company is its popularity, because it is the largest brand among manufacturers soft drinks with about 450 kinds of products. This trademark is the most expensive in the world, it includes 12 more manufacturing companies (Sprite, Fanta, Vitaminwater, Coca-Cola Lite and so on). The competitive advantage of the company lies in the fact that it is the first supplier of all types of soft drinks.
2. Technologies from Coca-Cola(this is the main competitive advantage of the company). There were many who wanted to know the secret recipe for drinks. This recipe is located in the bank vault of the Trust Company Of Georgia in the USA. Only a few top managers of the organization can open it. The already made base of the drink is sent to manufacturing plants, where it is mixed with water using a specialized precise process. To create this basis of the drink today is far from the easiest task. The trick is that the composition of the drink contains "natural flavors", the specific elements of which are not specified.
3. Innovation(this includes the competitive advantage of the company in the field of ecology):
   • The company wants to increase low level sales using modern equipment. Such machines are capable of pouring more than 100 types of drinks and making original mixes (light and diet cola, for example).
   • The Coca-Cola Company's environmental competitive advantage lies in the development of the Reimagine recycling program. This contributes to the fact that the management of the company will be easier to recycle and sort waste. In such a machine, you can put containers made of plastic and aluminum, excluding the sorting process. In addition, the device accrues points that are used to buy company drinks, branded bags and visit various entertainment projects.
   • This competitive advantage of the company works great, because the company strives to produce an environmentally friendly product. In addition, Coca-Cola is developing a program to use eStar cars that run without harmful emissions due to electric motors.
4. Geographic advantage. The geographical competitive advantage of the company as a construction company is that it sells its products in 200 countries around the world. For example, in our country there are 16 Coca-Cola manufacturing plants.

Example #3. Competitive advantages of Nestlé.

1. Product range and marketing strategy. The competitive advantage of the company lies in the fact that it operates with a wide range of products, as well as a large assortment of brands that strengthen it in the market of goods. Products consist of approximately 30 major brands and a huge number of local (local) brands. Nestle's competitive advantage lies in creating a national strategy that is based on people's needs. For example, Nescafe coffee drink, which has a different production structure for different countries. It all depends on the needs and preferences of the buyer.
2. Effective management and organization structure. A very significant competitive advantage of the company. An indicator of success is the increase in sales of the company by 9% in 2008, which was considered a crisis. The organization has successful personnel management and effective financing of new projects and programs. These programs are the purchase of shares in other firms, even competing ones. Thus, the competitive advantage of the company lies in its expansion. In addition, the decentralized management system of the company and the competent management of its structures help Nestle quickly respond to market changes.
3. Innovation. An extremely significant competitive advantage of the company is that it is the largest investor scientific projects and technological innovations that drive the development of the company through the introduction of technologies that meet the needs of customers, product differentiation, and improved taste sensations. Moreover, innovations are used in the modernization of manufacturing processes. This competitive advantage of the company solves the issue of optimization of manufacturing and production of an environmentally friendly product.
4. Global presence in world markets. An indisputable competitive advantage of the company, which is based on the history of its creation, because from the moment it appeared on the market, it has gradually expanded and improved, covering the whole world. Nestle is interested in bringing the consumer closer to the company. It allows its departments to independently appoint managers, organize the production and delivery of products, and cooperate with reliable suppliers.
5. Qualified personnel. This competitive advantage of the company in the face of personnel lies in the large costs of the company for training its employees at the international level. Nestle forms a highly qualified team of managers from its employees. The headquarters of employees in our country has approximately 4600 people, and the global human resource of the company is about 300 thousand employees.

Example number 4. Competitive Advantages of Toyota

1. High quality products. The main competitive advantage of the company is the product top level. In our country in 2015, about 120 thousand cars of this brand were sold. The fact that this competitive advantage of the company is decisive, said its ex-president Fujio Cho. And therefore, buying a Toyota car, the consumer is guaranteed a set of modern technological developments.
2. Wide model range. Toyota salons operate with all models of brand cars: Toyota Corolla (compact passenger car), Toyota Avensis (universal and comfortable car), Toyota Prus ( new model), Toyota Camry (a whole series of cars is presented), Toyota Verso (a car for the whole family), Toyota RAV4 (small SUVs), Toyota LandCruiser 200 and LandCruiserPrado (popular modern SUVs), Toyota Highlander (all-wheel drive crossovers), Toyota Hiace (comfortable, small car). This is an excellent competitive advantage of the company, because the model set of cars is presented for consumers with different preferences and financial capabilities.
3. Effective marketing. An excellent competitive advantage of the company is the certification of cars with inspections from Toyota Tested. Customers who buy such a car in our country get the opportunity to receive round-the-clock assistance, which consists in the constant work of technical support services. The company's cars can be purchased under the Trade-In program, which simplifies the purchase due to favorable offers from Toyota.
4. The client comes first. Another important competitive advantage of the company, for which Toyota developed the Personal & Premium program in 2010, presenting it at the international automobile show in Moscow. The program includes the availability of favorable loan offers when buying a car. Specialists from the New Car Buy Survey found that Russian consumers are most loyal to Toyota.
5. Effective company management. This competitive advantage of the company is expressed in the presence of an effective ERP program that can control the entire set of Toyota car sales activities in Russia online. The program was developed in 2003. The uniqueness of this program in Russia lies in its combination with the position on the market, with the various features of doing business in our country, with our existing laws. Another competitive advantage of the company is a holistic corporate structure, which helps the company and its partners to quickly operate data on the availability of certain product models in showrooms, warehouses, and so on. Moreover, Microsoft Dynamics AX contains all the documentation for the operations carried out with cars.

Example number 5. Competitive Advantages of Samsung Group

1. Consumer confidence. The company was founded in 1938 and over many years of hard work has achieved tremendous results (for example, 20th place in brand value, second place in the field of equipment). Consumer trust is the most important competitive advantage of the Samsung Group. The document management organization turned out to be “the most reliable” in the world. These are indicators that demonstrate how the history of the formation of the company, its trademark and the trust of customers turn into a huge competitive advantage of the company.
2. Company management. This competitive advantage of the company lies in its vast experience in the field of management, as well as in constantly improving methods of management in a changing market. For example, the recent reform of the firm in 2009 resulted in the company's divisions gaining more independence, thereby simplifying the entire management process.
3. Technologies. This competitive advantage of the company lies in the fact that it works with high technology. Samsung Group pioneered the technology of reciprocating and rotary compressors, optical fiber, energy application and concentration. In addition, the company has developed the thinnest lithium-ion power supplies. The competitive advantages of the company as a construction company are manifested in the fact that it ranks first in the development of communication systems for business areas of activity and moves ahead in the field of creating technologies for gas and oil pipelines, as well as other areas of construction.
4. The presence of an innovative advantage of the company. This competitive advantage of the company lies in the fact that it works tirelessly in the field of equipment modernization and innovative product components. The organization contains many scientific divisions around the world. They carry out research activities in the field of chemical current resources, software and various equipment. Samsung is implementing a scheme to promote electrical engineering, and is working on ways to retain energy resources. The competitive advantage of the company is also the hiring of highly qualified employees from different parts of the world. In addition, the corporation is partnering with the best technological universities in the world, investing in their developments and ideas.
5. Successful marketing system of the company. The company's competitive advantage is also a strong marketing campaign in many areas of activity (in its competition with Apple Corporation, Samsung conducted a rather aggressive advertising policy, trying to surpass it). A division of the company called "Cheil Communications" works in this area. It works in the field of advertising, marketing analysis and market situation analysis. In addition, an element of the company's competitive advantage is its assistance in the field of charity, which wins over the consumer and increases its popularity. The corporation also has special departments for charity.

How is the formation of competitive advantages of the company from scratch

Of course, any organization has its pros and cons, even when it does not occupy a leading position and does not stand out in the market. In order to analyze the causes of these phenomena and develop effective competitive advantages for the company, you need to turn, oddly enough, to your own consumer, who, like no one else, is able to correctly assess the situation and point out the shortcomings.

Customers can point to different competitive advantages of the company: location, reliability, simple preference, and so on. It is necessary to compose and evaluate this data in order to be able to increase the profitability of the enterprise.

However, this is not enough. Describe the strengths and weaknesses (what you have and what you don't) of your firm in writing. To develop effective competitive advantages for the company, it is worth clearly and specifically specifying all the details, for example:

Not all competitive advantages of the company should be reflected in this block, but here it is important to indicate all the pros and cons of the organization, from which it will be necessary to build on.

Focus, divide a sheet of paper into two parts and start putting the pros and cons of your company there. Then evaluate the shortcomings and turn them into competitive advantages of the company. For example:

Everything is not so difficult here. Then, using this list, it is necessary to develop the competitive advantages of the company from the primary to the most insignificant. They should be clear to the potential client, concise and effective.

There is also an aspect kept secret by many firms. It can be applied periodically when other competitive advantages of the company cannot be realized or when it is necessary to activate the effectiveness of its advantages. The advantages of the organization must be correctly combined with the satisfaction of the needs of the consumer.

Illustrative examples:

• Was: Experience - 15 years.

• It became: Cost reduction by 70%, thanks to many years of experience of the company

• Was: Reduced prices for goods.

• It became: The cost of production is lower by 20%, and the cost of transportation - by 15% due to the presence of their own vehicles.

How is the company's competitive advantage assessed?

The success of a company's competitive advantage can be assessed by fully evaluating the strengths and weaknesses of the company's position in the competition and comparing the results of the analysis with those of competitors. The analysis can be carried out by referring to the method of exponential assessment of KFU.

A well-designed action plan can turn the disadvantages of competing firms into competitive advantages for your company.

The criteria for this analysis are:

• The stability of the firm in protecting its position in the framework of market changes in the field of its industries, fierce competition and competitive advantages of competing companies.
• The presence of effective competitive advantages in the company or a lack or lack thereof.
• Opportunities to achieve success in the competition when operating with this action plan (the position of the company in the competitive system).
• The level of stability of the company in the current period.

Analysis of competitors' activities can be carried out using the method of weighted or unweighted estimates. The former are determined by multiplying the firm's score by a certain indicator of competitive opportunities (from 1 to 10) by its weight. The second presupposes the fact that all performance factors are equally important. The most effective competitive advantages of the company are realized when it has the highest ratings.

The last stage assumes that the company's specialists must identify strategic mistakes that negatively affect the formation of the company's competitive advantages. An effective program should include ways out of any difficult situation.

The task of this stage is to create a coherent list of problems, the overcoming of which is of paramount importance for the formation of the competitive advantages of the company and its strategy. The list is displayed on the basis of the results of the assessment of the company's activities, the situation on the market and the position of competitors.

It is impossible to identify these problems without referring to the following points:

• In what cases is the adopted program unable to protect the company from external and internal problem situations?
• Is a decent degree of protection against the current actions of competitors provided by the adopted strategy?
• To what extent does the adopted program support the competitive advantages of the company and is combined with them?
• Is the adopted program in this area of ​​activity effective in taking into account the impact of driving forces?

It is necessary to try to ensure that the competitive advantages of the company are applied by salespeople. They tend to have broad knowledge about the product and the firm, but not about competitors. own organization, which is a serious mistake. Knowing the competitive advantages of your company and the ability to work on competitive advantages is one of the important skills of sales managers.

Almost everyone has the opportunity to introduce a system of discounts. Proper use of the company's competitive advantages is not expressed in dumping, but in the art of strengthening the position of one's organization and its interests.

To master this art, you can participate in trainings from the Practicum Group organization. It provides services for conducting training programs that improve the performance of staff, management, the company's competitive advantages, as well as increase sales and strengthen relationships with the consumer.

Service list:

• Training program for sales managers "PROFESSIONAL".
• Trainings for managers and employees.
• Leadership training.
• Trainings in the specialized center "Practicum Group".

The founder of the Practicum Group organization is Evgeniy Igorevich Kotov. It has been operating since 2006 and during all this time has managed to train more than 40 thousand people: employees, managers, managers of all types, and so on.

The organization covers about 100 cities of the CIS countries, as well as Turkey, Moldova, Latvia, Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan

The world does not stand still, information is constantly updated, and market participants are in search of marketing ideas, ways of doing business, new views on their product. Any business is tested for strength by competitors, therefore, when developing a development strategy, it is reasonable to take into account their influence, market share, position and behavior.

What is competitive advantage

Competitive advantage is a certain superiority of a company or product over other market participants, which is used to strengthen its position when reaching the planned profit level. Competitive advantage is achieved by providing the client with more services, more quality products, the relative cheapness of goods and other qualities.

Competitive advantage for business provides:

– prospects for long-term growth;

– work stability;

- getting a higher rate of profit from the sale of goods;

- creating barriers for new players to enter the market.

Note that competitive advantages can always be found for any type of business. To do this, you should conduct a competent analysis of your product and the product of a competitor.

What are the types of competitive advantages

What allows you to create competitive advantages for business? There are 2 options for this. First of all, the product itself can provide competitive advantages. One type of competitive advantage is the price of goods. Buyers often prefer to buy a product only because of its cheapness relative to other offers with similar properties. Due to the cheapness of the product, it can be purchased even if it does not represent a special consumer value for buyers.

The second competitive advantage is differentiation. For example, when a product has distinctive features that make the product more attractive to the consumer. In particular, differentiation can be achieved due to characteristics that are not related to consumer properties. For example, due to the brand.

If a company creates competitive advantages for its product, it can only highlight its position in the market. This can be achieved by monopolizing part of the market. True, such a situation is contrary to market relations, since the buyer is deprived of the opportunity to choose. However, in practice, many companies not only provide themselves with such a competitive advantage of the product, but also retain it for a long time.

4 criteria for assessing competitive advantages

Utility. The competitive advantage offered should be beneficial to the company's operations and should also enhance profitability and strategy development.

Uniqueness. Competitive advantage should distinguish the product from competitors, and not repeat them.

Security. It is important to legally protect your competitive advantage and make it as difficult as possible to copy it.

Value for the target audience of the business.

Competitive Advantage Strategies

1. Cost leadership. Thanks to this strategy, the company generates revenues above the industry average due to the low cost of its production, despite high competition. When a company receives a higher rate of return, it can reinvest these funds to support the product, inform about it, or outperform competitors due to lower prices. Low costs provide protection from competitors, as revenue is maintained in conditions that other market participants are not available. Where can you use a cost leadership strategy? This strategy is applied when economies of scale or when the prospect of achieving lower costs in the long term. This strategy is chosen by companies that cannot compete in the industry at the product level and work with a differentiation approach, providing for the product distinctive characteristics. This strategy will be effective with a high proportion of consumers who are price sensitive.

• Information about competitors: 3 rules for collecting and using it

This strategy often requires the unification and simplification of the product to facilitate production processes, increasing production volumes. It may also require a high initial investment in equipment and technology to reduce costs. For the effectiveness of this strategy, careful control of labor processes, design and development of products, with a clear organizational structure, is necessary.

Cost leadership can be achieved through certain opportunities:

- limited access of the enterprise to obtaining cheap resources;

- the company has the opportunity to reduce production costs due to the accumulated experience;

- the management of the company's production capacity is based on the principle that promotes economies of scale;

- the company provides for scrupulous management of the level of its reserves;

- tight control of overhead and production costs, abandoning small operations;

– availability of technology for the cheapest production in the industry;

– standardized production of the company;

2 steps to building a competitive advantage

Alexander Maryenko, Project Manager of A Dan Dzo Group of Companies, Moscow

There are no clear instructions for creating a competitive advantage, taking into account the individuality of each market. However, in such a situation, you can be guided by a certain logical algorithm:

Determine the target audience that will buy your product or influence this decision.

Determine the real need of such people related to your services or products, which are not yet satisfied by suppliers.

2. Differentiation. The company, when working with this strategy, provides unique properties for its product, which are important for the target audience. Therefore, they allow you to set a higher price on the product compared to competitors.

Product leadership strategy requires:

- the product must have unique properties;

- the ability to create a reputation for high quality product;

– high qualification of employees;

- ability to protect competitive advantage.

The advantage lies in the ability to sell the product at higher prices than the industry average, avoiding direct competition. Thanks to this strategy, it is possible to achieve better commitment and loyalty to the brand, under the conditions of competent assortment building, the presence of competitive advantages.

Risks or disadvantages of using a differentiated marketing strategy:

- a significant difference in prices is possible, due to which even the unique qualities of the product will not attract a sufficient number of buyers;

- the product may lose its uniqueness when copying the advantages of cheaper products.

This strategy is used for saturated markets by companies that are ready for high investment in promotion. There is no need to talk about low cost - it will be higher than the market average. However, this is offset by the ability to sell the product at higher prices.

3. Niche leadership or focus. The strategy involves protection from major competitors and substitute products. In this case, it is possible to achieve a high rate of return due to more effective satisfaction of the needs of a narrow audience of consumers. This strategy can be built on competitive advantages of any type - on the breadth of the proposed range or the lower price of the product.

In this case, the company is limited in market share, but it does not need significant investments for product development, which is a chance for the survival of small enterprises.

Risks and disadvantages of using a focus strategy:

- there is a high probability of large differences in prices for goods compared to the leading brands of the market, which may scare away their target audience;

- the attention of large market participants is switched to niche segments in which the company operates;

- a serious danger of reducing the difference between the needs of the industry and the niche market.

Where to Use a Niche Leadership Strategy? Working with this strategy is recommended for small companies. It is most effective when the market is saturated, there are strong players, with high costs or non-competitiveness in terms of costs in comparison with market leaders.

Three stages of service strategy

I stage. Innovation. When one of the market participants introduces something new in terms of customer service. Company in given period stands out given the presence of a new competitive advantage.

II stage. Addictive. The proposed service is becoming familiar to consumers, and an analogue is gradually being introduced in the activities of competitors.

III stage. Requirement. For consumers, this proposal becomes an integral element of a service or product, moving into the category of standards.

How to check the level of service in your company

• Conducting informal surveys. The CEO and other managers need to understand the opinion of consumers about the proposed service.
• Conducting formal surveys (focus groups). It will be rational to involve both consumers and representatives of all departments of your company for these events.
• Engage third-party consultants to interview company employees. Thanks to external consultants, the importance of answers increases (with more candid answers).

How to improve the service

Tatiana Grigorenko, managing partner of 4B Solutions, Moscow

Consider general tips for improving the service in the work of companies.

1. Surprise, influence emotions. Usually visitors in the office are offered tea bags or instant coffee. We decided to pleasantly surprise our customers - the visitor is offered a choice of 6 types of professionally prepared coffee, 6 excellent varieties of tea with branded chocolate for dessert.

2. Break the rules. In the modern market it is inefficient to be like everyone else, you need to be better than the rest.

3. Listen to your customers. Do you need to ask your customers what they would be interested in?

How to create competitive advantage

When developing a competitive advantage, there are nine criteria for a successful option to consider:

1) Uniqueness.

2) Long-term. Competitive advantage should be of interest for at least three years.

3) Uniqueness.

4) Credibility.

5) Attractiveness.

6) Have Reasons to Believe (a basis for trust). Concrete grounds that will make buyers believe.

7) Be better. Buyers need to understand why this product is better than others.

8) Have the opposite. There must be a complete opposite in the market. Otherwise, it will not be a competitive advantage.

9) Brevity. Must fit in a sentence of 30 seconds.

Step #1. Compiling a list of all benefits

The benefits of the product are sought as follows:

– we are interested in buyers, what competitive advantages they hope to get at the expense of your product;

- make a detailed list of all the properties that the product has, based on the characteristics from the marketing mix model:

1) Product

What can be said about the product:

– functionality;

– brand symbolism: logo, name, corporate identity;

– appearance: packaging, design;

– required quality product: from the position of the target market;

– service and support;

- assortment, variety.

2) Price

What can be said about the price:

– price strategy for entering the market;

– retail price: the selling price of the product must necessarily be related to the desired retail price, only if the company does not become the last link in the overall distribution chain.

- pricing for different sales channels; supposed different prices, depending on the specific link in the supply chain, a specific supplier;

- package pricing: with the simultaneous sale of several products of the company at special prices;

– policy regarding the conduct of promotional events;

– Availability of seasonal promotions or discounts;

- Possibility of price discrimination.

3) Place of sale

It is necessary to have a product on the market in the right place so that the buyer can see it and purchase it at the right time.

What can be said about the sale meta:

- sales markets, or in which the sale of goods is planned;

– distribution channels for the sale of goods;

– type and conditions of distribution;

– conditions and rules for the display of goods;

- Logistics and inventory management issues.

4) Promotion

Promotion in this case involves all marketing communications to attract the attention of the target audience to the product, with the formation of knowledge about the product and key properties, the formation of the need to purchase the product and repeat purchases.

What can be said about the promotion:

– promotion strategy: pull or push. With the Push strategy, it is supposed to push the goods through the trading chain by stimulating intermediaries and sales personnel. Pull - "pulling" products through the distribution chain by stimulating consumers, the final demand of their product;

– target values ​​of knowledge, brand loyalty and consumption by their target audience;

– required marketing budget, SOV in the segment;

- the geography of their communication;

– communication channels for contact with consumers;

– participation in specialized shows and events;

- brand media strategy

– PR-strategy;

– promotions for the next year, events aimed at sales promotion.

5) People

– employees who represent your product and company;

– sales personnel in contact with the target consumers of the product;

– consumers who are “opinion leaders” in their category;

- manufacturers, on which the quality and price of the goods may depend;

– this group also includes privileged consumer groups, including VIP clients and loyal customers who generate sales for the company.

What can you say about working with people:

- programs for the formation of motivation, with the development of relevant competencies and skills among employees;

– methods of working with people on whom the opinion of the consumer audience depends;

– education and loyalty programs for their sales staff;

- Methods for collecting feedback.

6) Process

This one applies to the service market and the B2B market. Under the "process" refers to the interaction of the company and consumers. It is this interaction that is the basis of buying on the market with the formation of consumer loyalty.

• Unique Selling Proposition: Examples, Development Tips

You can talk about programs to improve the process of providing services to your target customers. The goal is to provide the most comfortable conditions for buyers when purchasing and using the offered service.

7) Physical environment

This also applies to the service market and B2B. This term describes what surrounds the buyer during the purchase of the service.

Step #2. Rank all the benefits

To evaluate the list, a three-point scale of the importance of characteristics is best suited:

1 point - the benefit of this characteristic for target consumers is of no value;

2 points - the benefit is not primary, which stimulates the purchase of goods in the first place;

3 points - the received benefit is one of the most significant properties of the offered service.

Step #3. Compare list of benefits with competitors

The resulting list of characteristics should be compared with its competitors according to two principles: the presence of this property in a competitor, whether the condition is better for a competitor or for you.

Step number 4. Look for absolute competitive advantages

Among the sources of absolute competitive advantages, it should be noted:

- the product is unique in one or several properties;

– uniqueness by combination of properties;

- special components of the product composition, a unique combination of ingredients;

– certain actions are performed better, more efficiently and quickly;

– features appearance, form, packaging, method of sale or delivery;

– creation and implementation of innovations;

- unique technologies, methods for creating a product, patents;

- qualification of personnel and the uniqueness of its human capital;

- the ability to ensure the minimum cost in their industry, while assuming a higher profit;

– special conditions of sales, after-sales service for consumers;

- access to limited raw materials, resources.

Step number 5. Look for "false" competitive advantages

First mover. Declare the properties of competitors' products first, while they have not yet informed their target audience about them;

Efficiency indicator. Creating your own performance evaluation indicator;

Curiosity and interest. You can stand out thanks to a factor that is not considered decisive when buying, but will allow you to attract the attention of the target audience.

Step number 6. Make a development and control plan

After identifying a competitive advantage, you need to form two further marketing action plans - a plan to develop your competitive advantage over the next few years and a plan to maintain the relevance of the presented advantage.

How to analyze current competitive advantages

Stage 1. Make a list of evaluation parameters

Create a list of key competitive advantages of your product and competitors.

For evaluation, a three-point scale is best suited, according to which are put:

1 point = the parameter is not fully reflected in the competitive advantages of the product;

2 points = the parameter is not fully reflected in the competitive advantage;

3 points = the parameter is fully reflected.

Stage 3. Make a development plan

Form your plan of action aimed at improving the competitive advantage of the company. It is necessary to plan improvements on the points of assessment, which were given less than three points.

How to develop competitive advantages

Competitive behavior in the market can be of three types:

Creative. Implementation of measures to create new components of market relations in order to obtain a competitive advantage in the market;

Adaptive. Accounting for innovative changes in production, ahead of competitors in terms of modernization of production;

Providing-guaranteeing. The basis is the desire to maintain and stabilize the obtained competitive advantages and market positions in the long term by supplementing the assortment, improving quality, and additional services to consumers.

The duration of retention of competitive advantages depends on:

source of competitive advantage. Can be a competitive advantage of high and low order. The advantage of a low order is represented by the possibility of using cheap raw materials, labor, components, materials, fuel and energy resources. At the same time, competitors can easily achieve low-order advantages by copying, searching for their sources of these advantages. The advantage in the form of cheap labor can also lead to negative consequences for the enterprise. With low salaries for repairmen, drivers, they can be poached by competitors. The advantages of a high order are the excellent reputation of the company, specially trained personnel, production and technical base.

The number of clear sources of competitive advantage in the enterprise. A greater number of competitive advantages at the enterprise will seriously complicate the tasks of its pursuers-competitors;

Constant modernization of production.

How to survive the crisis and maintain competitive advantages

Alexander Idrisov, Managing Partner, StrategyPartners, Moscow

1. Keep your finger on the pulse of events. Some of the employees should collect and analyze information about the state and trends of the market, how these trends can affect the business, taking into account the study of consumer preferences, demand dynamics, data on investors and competitors.

2. Develop the most pessimistic forecast for your company.

3. Focus on paying customers.

4. Focus on a narrow range of tasks. You need to carefully study the business model of your company. This does not mean that you need to abolish all areas of your activity. But it is worth focusing on a narrow range of tasks, abandoning non-core tasks or areas that can be outsourced.

• Reframing, or How to deal with customer objections

5. Consider teaming up with competitors. Many companies are now ready for alliances with competitors on mutually beneficial terms.

6. Maintain relationships with potential investors. A particularly important condition during a crisis is that you must not lose touch with investors, it is better to activate them if possible.

Information about the author and company

Alexander Maryenko, Project Manager of A Dan Dzo Group of Companies, Moscow. Graduated from the Faculty of Finance of the Nizhny Novgorod State University. Participated in projects (more than 10, of which six - as a manager) aimed at increasing the profitability of companies' businesses and solving their systemic problems.

John Shoal, President of ServiceQualityInstitute, Minneapolis (Minnesota, USA). It is considered the founder of the service strategy. At the age of 25, he founded a firm specializing in educating companies about a culture of service. Author of five bestsellers on the topic of service, translated into 11 languages ​​and sold in more than 40 countries.

ServiceQualityInstitute formed by John Shoal in 1972. Specializes in the development and implementation of service strategies in companies. More than 2 million people have been trained by ServiceQualityInstitute specialists. The main office is located in Minneapolis, branches - around the world (in 47 countries), their share is 70% of the total number of representative offices of the company. In Russia, ServiceQualityInstitute and John Shoal are represented by ServiceFirst.

Tatiana Grigorenko, managing partner of 4B Solutions, Moscow.

4B Solutions Company founded in 2004. Provides outsourcing and consulting services. Areas of specialization - improvement of customer service systems, anti-crisis management, professional legal and accounting business support. The staff of the company is over 20 people. Among the clients are the Association of Business Aviation, Triol Corporation, Rafamet Machine Tool Plant (Poland), ANCS Group, IFR Monitoring, MediaArtsGroup, Gaastra chain of boutiques.

Alexander Idrisov, Managing Partner of StrategyPartners, Moscow.

strategy partners. Field of activity: strategic consulting. Form of organization: LLC. Location: Moscow. Number of staff: about 100 people. Main clients (completed projects): Atlant-M, Atlant Telecom, Vostok, GAZ, MTS, Press House, Razgulay, Rosenergoatom, Russian Machines, Talosto, "Tractor Plants", "Uralsvyazinform", "Tsaritsyno", publishing houses "Enlightenment", "Eksmo", Ministry information technologies and Communications of the Russian Federation, the Ministry of Regional Development of the Russian Federation, the Port of Murmansk, Rosprirodnadzor, the administrations of the Arkhangelsk, Nizhny Novgorod, Tomsk regions and the Krasnoyarsk Territory, the Avantix company.