Why Me?– In other words, why should customers choose me instead of one of my many competitors?  How do I differentiate myself in the minds of consumers?

Know yourself. 
Every brand has a great story behind it.  Is it your founder's inspiration for starting the company?  Or, is it a unique solution to a common problem that only you offer?  More than likely your brand differentiators already exist.  The key is to articulate them in a way that can be measured and quantified.  Then you can ask your best customers to tell you which of those attributes they most value and which ones are not as important.

Understand your best customers.
The key is not satisfying all of your customers but increasing your best customers.  So, look at your most loyal customers.  Those are the ones who buy from you most frequently, are committed to returning, and are most likely to recommend you to friends and family.  What makes them happy?  What makes your brand relevant to their lives?  What would encourage them to spend even more money with you?  Once you understand and can articulate your core strengths you'll know what to amplify in your marketing and other communications.

Decipher your own unique success formula.
So, what drives customers to be loyal to, spend more at, and tell others about a business?  It's different for every brand.  Just like how no two brands are completely alike, for each brand there is a unique success formula that is ultimately determined by your customers.  It's up to the brand's stakeholders to research what is in the minds of customers and decipher it into a language that managers understand and can act upon.

Establish your place in the universe.
Consumers have more choices, and resources that influence those choices, than ever before.  In a way, everyone is everyone else's customer.  Cross-shopping is the norm, and consumers intuitively understand the unique selling propositions of each of the seemingly similar businesses they patronize.  So, the challenge is not so much about how can you take customers away from the competition, but how can you firmly establish your own "unique place in the universe" giving you a base from which to evolve.  This begins by understanding not only yourself but also who your key competitors are and why they are relevant to your customers.

Open a dialogue with your customers – literally.
Often the most valuable business insights come directly from the mouths of your customers, so speaking with them regularly will prove extremely advantageous.  So, where do you start?  The key is to first determine what exactly you want to talk about with your customers.  This is where surveys are useful.  A well-planned and well-executed survey will answer your questions and provide a framework for customer dialogue.  You can now speak to your customers about those survey findings that interest you, providing the much necessary context and meaning to the data. 

Benefit from ongoing customer insights.
An ongoing, targeted dialogue with your customers will provide you with a steady stream of intuitive, insightful knowledge of your customers' ever-changing needs and wants.  Incorporating this valuable customer knowledge into all business areas, whether it's marketing, PR, advertising, store operations, etc. will make your output even more in line with customer needs, helping to ensure you stay present and relevant with your customers.

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