Hello and welcome to another episode of always up to date. I’m Denise and this is YALI and we are co-learners of always bookkeeping. So y’all way you’re getting ready to take your second part of your CPA exam week. Are you ready for that? [inaudible] lots of time. We’ll see how it goes. Yeah, well good luck with it. Yeah. Um, so this video is the business, the benefits of business planning. And this is the second part of this. Um, we did a video last week, uh, part one. And so this one we’re going to be looking more at, um, differentiation strategies. Uh, so our quote again is from Abraham Lincoln who is the former president of the United States. And he said, give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the ax. Uh, and then, um, the statistic is from Palo Alto and it says that business owners who complete a business plan are 50% more likely to grow their business with Edmonton Bookkeeping.

Um, so like we said on the last video, y’all wait. Um, we have clients that come to us and, um, they have an idea of what they want their business to be and to do, um, but they don’t have a business plan or their business plan doesn’t really, um, see it isn’t, yeah. Um, so that’s what we’re going to talk about. And today we’re going to talk again about the differentiation strategies. Yeah. So one questions you wanna ask is how many differentiation strategies, strategies should I focus on? Yeah. So there’s actually a lot of differentiation strategies. Um, we’ve, we’re gonna talk about a few of them. There’s probably more that we don’t even have listed here, but we would recommend no more than three. You know, two to three is probably good. Three is probably the best amount to kind of, um, you know, pick three different ones and just do the best that you can with those that use Edmonton Bookkeeping.

And, uh, it’s exponentially better to, to focus on just three things and be the best artist. Yeah. Instead of, you know, putting your, uh, effort on six different things all at once, trying to capture the market on each differentiation strategy. Right. Yeah. Um, how should I describe niche customers? Yeah. So if you decide that niche customers is one of your differentiation strategies, um, you want to describe what that niche is. So, um, different types of customers. Are you, um, maybe reaching out to seniors? Are you reaching out to, um, people with special needs? Maybe you’re reaching out to, um, a younger generation, maybe it’s athletes, maybe it’s working mothers who knows? Yeah. Like that’s what you want to focus on, on those customers that you really want to reach. Who is it that needs my product? Yeah. That’s who I want to reach out to get the best Edmonton Bookkeeping.

Yeah. Your niche is the certain group of people that will, that will need your products. So, um, and it also applies to if your customers are businesses. So let’s say, um, you’re, you’re targeting utility, just utility, um, corporations, then that would be your niche customer and, right. Yep. Um, what should I describe unique features and qualities of product and services? Yeah. So maybe one of the differentiation, differentiation strategies that you’re going to choose is a unique feature or quality of the product or service that you, you offer. So, so maybe, um, I don’t know, you, you, you may, maybe you’re a plumber and you have a unique product that’s gonna like nobody else has it. And, um, it’s going to help you to kind of just have the edge on your competitors for sure. Yeah. Yeah. So I don’t confuse it with the niche customers cause the niche customers is focused mostly on what your targeting unique, uh, features and qualities is, uh, internal uses of Edmonton Bookkeeping.

That’s right. So, uh, it, it revolves around the product and services that you offer, not to the customer, but you know, like as a, as a general idea of what your product and services would look like. Yeah. Sometimes it can be your characteristics as well. So, you know, like we have clients that are very professional and want to portray that professionalism. And we have other customers that are very laid back and, um, you know, even though they do a professional job, they want to be a little bit more, um, just laid back when they go and do the job and just a little bit more casual. Or, for example, like if you have, uh, if you’re running a daycare company and, um, you realize that the owners are all nurses, that’s a unique feature that nobody else has, right? Yeah. So that’s, that’s one of the examples that we’re trying to, um, describe here.

Yeah. Yeah. Um, how should I describe the location? Yeah. So if you’re going to choose location for your differentiation strategy, describe where you are. Describe some of the features that are around you. For example, with us, we, um, are kind of on the, the outskirts of downtown. One thing that’s unique about our location, even though we’re downtown, we have free parking, which is really important to people. You know, when they’re going somewhere downtown, there’s, if you’re from Edmonton, you know that it’s hard to find parking. Um, there’s lots of construction downtown and if you do find parking, it usually costs a lot for us. Free parking. Yeah. Yeah. Or if you, again, going back to maybe a daycare, right? Yeah, it is. It’s important. Location is a big thing because normally parents would look at what the closest they care is to their house or to the workplace without Edmonton Bookkeeping.

Right? Yeah. So that’s something that you can focus on, on the differentiation strategy is how you use your location as an advantage to your other competitors. Yeah. Yup. Um, how should I describe the facilities, equipment and software? Yeah. Again, if you’re going to use your, um, facilities, equipment and software for your differentiation strategies, describe them. Maybe your facility is, um, like if you have, um, facilities and equipment that are top of the line, I’m leading edge, nobody else has them. Maybe there’s, um, software that you use. Make sure that your clients know what software you’re using. Is it specific for their industry? If you’re helping other businesses, is it, um, something that’s user friendly? Are they going to be able to access it? Or maybe it’s something that you develop yourself, right. For your customers. So that’s right. Yeah. You want to make sure that you train them.

If you’re gonna, uh, use that differentiation strategy. How should I describe, uh, branding and marketing? Um, again, if you’re going to use branding and marketing and probably that’s one of the big ones that you want to use, um, we would recommend definitely using that one. What is your company? What is it, um, you’re branding and marketing that’s gonna represent you. How are you gonna um, you know, put yourself just a little bit ahead of your competition by that branding and marketing and some people buy on emotion. So you want to make sure you’re, you know, like you’re, you’re putting up the right brand or the image, even your templates should, should focus on that ended. This all comes back again to your mission and vision statements as well, right? How aligned are your mission, vision statements are in your values with your actual strategy and your differentiation strategy?

Right? Yeah. So that’s important. Um, how should I describe the payment methods and terms? Yeah, so, um, another differentiation strategy is the payment methods and terms. Uh, so if you offer financing, let your clients know that if you, um, maybe they can send a check or cash or credit card, um, you know, E transfers, let them know how they can pay. That’s, that’s important too. A lot of people. Yeah, for sure. And especially for, um, for industries that require, you know, a different kind of method, uh, or payment method method. Uh, uh, yeah, so for example, and a construction in the, you might be the only one that’s doing this payment term or giving you a discount for them to do, pay a certain price at a certain date. You might be the only one that’s doing, you know, monthly payment system or a fixed monthly payment system without Edmonton Bookkeeping.

Or let’s say you might be the only one that’s, I’m doing direct debit with your clients. So these are some of the items that, um, you, you are, um, you can differentiate yourself from other competitors too. Right. That’s great. Um, how should I describe number’s certifications, experience and Earl in Jevity of staff? Yeah. So there’s another differentiation strategy. Um, do you have a lot of staff? Do you just have a little bit of staff? Do you have like, do are your staff certified? Um, you know, do you have an accounting firm that has accountants or do you have an accounting firm that has CPAs at it? T um, you know, how long have the staff had experience, whether it’s at your particular place of business or somewhere else in the industry, what’s the experience and longevity of your staff? Yeah. And especially if you’re hiring people with only a certain degree of certificate or like diploma, right?

You want to be able to status your differentiation strategy and brand it so that people know that whoever they’re going to be dealing with has this qualifications. Right? That’s right. Um, how should I describe organization Lyn Jevity reputation and or contractual relationships with customers? Yeah. So not only do people want to know, um, your staff and how they’re qualified and how long they’ve been there. They want to know how long your company has been. Um, in business, you know, that what kind of a reputation you have. Um, you know, just if you have good relationships with your customers, those are all things that make for a good differentiation strategy. You know, maybe you’ve been in business for longer than your competition and not something that works in your, your benefit. Yeah, for sure. And especially, um, we were talking about certifications of your staff or, uh, from the other one with out Edmonton Bookkeeping.

Maybe you don’t have a certified staff, but you’ve been in the business for so long and you, people have seen, you give back to the community or, um, you know, people have, uh, you have your customers for so long because they love your product. B, uh, being able to use those advantages as your differentiation strategy is, um, is a big thing as well. Right. And something that you can focus on. Um, and how you could maintain that would be part of it should be part of your business plan. That’s right. Yeah. Um, how should I describe convenience and customer experience? Yeah, I think that’s a big one. The differentiation strategy of convenience and customer experience. Um, you know, lots of people think, Oh, I gotta give them the best price. But I think that a lot of people when they’re shopping around for something, they also are looking at the convenience and the customer experience.

Um, one of the best ways to get the customer experience out there is get Google reviews. Um, not only is this going to help you in your marketing, but it’s going to help people see that, you know, customers like you, they, they like your, um, uh, your product, your services, and they’d had a good experience. And that’s how people are gonna go to take a look. We’ve talked about that on videos before that. Um, I think it’s over 80% of people will look on Google to see if there’s any reviews before they purchase something from you. Yeah, for sure. And even, uh, for example, like Starbucks, you’re buying the experience, not the coffee really. Right? So that’s when it comes into play. When you’re thinking of convenience and customer service as your differentiation strategy, like what, what value can you add to your products to be able to, you know, um, you said as a competitive advantage against your competitors that use Edmonton Bookkeeping?

Yeah. Um, and especially with this, um, it can be proven. There’s always the lowest cost phones and lowest cost, uh, cars in the market. But if the rarely people will have these cars and, and phones, because the value added on some of the items are, um, important enough for customers to buy the product. So it’s not necessarily just price it that dictates how a customer will react to your product. It’s also the experience and the value that’s added to the, um, to the product and service as well. That’s right. Yeah. So I think that’s all the questions we have for this video. I hope you guys, uh, learn something and find this informative. Um, if you have any questions or comments, please, uh, bright down below in the comments section and please don’t forget to like and subscribe our videos and we’ll see you guys next episode.