Regardless of your field, most companies today find it nearly impossible to create any kind of competitive advantage based on product alone. To do so, many have committed to be outstanding in interactions with customers. The focus is to beat the competition not just by having a superior product but by being better in how that product is presented, explained, serviced, sold and marketed.

Being successful at this requires more than just finding out what the competition is doing and doing it better. It requires that companies create breakthroughs in how they interact with customers and design a way of interacting that makes an indelible impression on customers...one that so utterly distinguishes them from others that it becomes one’s trademark.

What if each employee at a funeral home was given a mission to "Create a Best Funeral Experience" for not just client families but for every person who entered the facility? What if every employee thought about a lifetime relationship with customers? Too often, employees are product pushers rather than client family-oriented helpers and problem solvers. This is especially true with some arrangers. With sophisticated customers calling upon you, are employees trained and schooled in communicating what doing business with you is about? Or, is it left to chance?

Many companies struggle because they remain internally focused. Their unsuccessful scenario is one of business as usual but with fewer people, less cost, and resulting in diminished revenues. When nothing else is done, dispirited, distrustful, and fearful employees "stay low," avoid standing out, and spend their time working on their own survival. When employees are keeping their heads down, they can’t see the company’s customers. Maybe they don’t even care.

"You have to understand what it is that you are better at than anybody else and mercilessly focus your efforts on it." Andrew Grove, CEO, Intel.

Need help determining this? Give me a call. If you are among the few fortunate people who know what this is and would like to develop it further throughout your company, give me a call. From identity crisis to laser-beam focus...a reality for you in 2008.