Competition is a “killer” for a lot of commodity businesses. Doesn’t really matter whether you market online or offline. If you sell a commodity product then chances are you compete for customers with hundreds of other businesses.

In the next few minutes, I’m going to share with you a proven strategy to…

Out-Market, Out-Sell And Out-Profit…

… Just about anyone in your industry or business category.

Here’s a true story: Way back around 1907 a certain company (Powellton) sold coal. There was nothing distinctive about this company. They did business like all the others.

They decided to create a new customer base in the makers of stoves and ranges. But the competition was fierce. And competing on price was a losing battle.

They were in the running with six other coal companies for a new account. The customer bought a carload of coal from each of the candidates.

The customer did an analysis on each of the six carloads of coal. After the results came in, the customer awarded the contract — without hesitation — to… Powellton.

Why?

After all, there really was nothing different about them compared to the other coal companies. Not on the surface anyway.

The only obvious reason Powellton got the account was because there was something unusual about their coal. Something they didn’t even know. There was.

When the customer did the analysis on Powellton coal here’s what they discovered: The coke in their coal had a very high carbon content. And low ash.

These characteristics gave Powellton coke a heating power that would melt a huge amount of iron. In addition, the structure of Powellton coke supported a huge amount of weight.

Powellton’s competitors had good coke. Theirs could melt eight or nine tons of iron to one ton of coke. On the other hand, Powellton coke melted as high as fifteen tons of iron to one ton of coke.

It cost the customer 80 to 90 cents to melt a ton of iron with ordinary coke. Using Powellton coke only cost them 47 cents per ton.

Therein lies the “rub”.

Somewhere within every commodity product lingers a distinctive benefit to the customer. Find the benefit and you’ll position your product beyond the reach of the competition.

The key to finding such an advantage is…

Research

Once Powellton discovered their true advantage they owned the stoves and ranges market. The funny thing is, Powellton stumbled across their competitive advantage by sheer accident.

Here’s another true story: Let’s go back again to the turn of the 20th century. Thomas Beck was sales manager of Proctor and Gamble. They made Ivory soap.

Listen to this: Soap was, at that time, sold to laundries by the barrel of so many pounds of weight. Barrels of soap were considered to be pretty much the same. Sales were made almost entirely on price.

Thomas Beck decided to have Ivory soap flakes analyzed. He compared those results with analysis made of competing soap brands.

What he discovered floored him.

Competing brands of soap contained about 15 percent water to only 5 percent water for Ivory soap. Which meant that laundries buying competing brands of soap were paying more for water. The same water they could get from the faucet.

Once again, with a little research…

A Distinctive Competitive Advantage…

… Was discovered in a cut-throat commodity industry.

That discovery helped to make Ivory soap a household name. We still use it today. More than one hundred years later.

Now, let me share with you a practical application of what you just learned.

Before you sit down to write an ad for your product… before you pick up the phone to make sales calls… and before you send salespeople out into the street… do a little research.

Follow these steps…

1. List all of the advantages and benefits your product delivers. The obvious ones.
2. Get ALL of the competing products and find out what their features and benefits are as compared to your product.
3. Determine what one single benefit of your product stands out above all the other products in your category. (I guarantee you there is at least one.)
4. Create a marketing and sales promotion around that benefit.
5. Let everyone know about it.

You don’t have to get slaughtered by the competition. Odds are your product has some inherent advantage the competition’s product does not have. Find that advantage through some simple research. Then, advertise that distinctive advantage and prosper.

About the Author

John “Angel” Anghelache is a direct response copywriter and marketer. He has written for some of the biggest names in the business including: the late Gary Halbert, David Garfinkel, Michel Fortin, and Joe Vitale. To find out how you can create advertising that works, go to www.TheCopywritingCrashCourse.com.

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