5 Strategies That Can Make Your Business Stand Out from the Crowd

Photo by Timothy Paule II from Pexels

Since 2019, I have tried to grow several businesses, some have been successful, and others have only left me monetary loss.

In the process of all of them, I have realized something important: No matter what you start or how bad you are in the beginning, if you take the right steps, you can stand out in the market, even if it is already “saturated.”

And this is the thing; whenever you start a business, you will find people who will tell you “that industry is already saturated” or “that business is already dead.”

However, year after year, you will see people who succeed in that same business that many said was impossible. An example of this is the case of Ben Francis, who started Gymshark in 2012 from scratch in a world in which there were already big sports brands like Nike and Adidas; however today, it is worth $1.45 billion.

The secret is focusing on what really matters. Comments and rumors about something being dead won’t take you anywhere; they only stop you from starting something you want.

But you can start a common business like a dropshipping store, a blog, or even an online course if you know how to market it correctly. If you are good enough, no matter how many companies are already, you will grow.

Here I will show you 5 psychological things that will help your business stand out from the mass, and how it helped me earn 5 figures.

Understand the market trends

Understanding the market trends should be the first step to make a business shine. That’s because by analyzing what is going on, you understand the customer's behavior, actions, and motivations.

One of the biggest failures that we can learn from in the business industry that failed by not following trends is the case of Kodak. Basically, Kodak failed to reinvent itself when the digital era came, just because they weren't open to change their business model:

“Kodak created a digital camera, invested in the technology, and even understood that photos would be shared online. Where they failed was in realizing that online photo sharing was the new business, not just a way to expand the printing business.”

The easiest way to understand a market, and the one that I’m using, is basically using social media platforms. Social media are one of the best tools for market research because they provide analytical features to help you determine your customers’ interests. For example, I can know what my readers want before writing an article with a simple tweet.

Analyzing the trends helped me change my content strategy when I started talking about cryptocurrencies on my blogs. Basically, I was closed on the topic, and my articles were based on “why is it not smart to invest there.”

However, analyzing the data from my social networks, I realized that people were more interested in knowing how it works than why they should not be there.

Provide legendary customer service.

In 2019 I had a food vending machine in the building where I worked. One day while I was filling the products, one of the bank employees who worked there told me that the machine took a dollar while trying to buy a soda. Without saying a word, I handed him a bottle.

“Are you sure you don’t want to count the money from the machine first?” he said. I told him that it was not necessary, and I thanked him for being a client.

From that day on, I won a friend. The trust I gave him was worth more than the dollar I could have lost if it weren’t true. I gained a regular customer who knew that his money would always be safe no matter what happened and somebody that would tell others what happened.

Euge Oller talks about the psychology behind good customer service in his video “Why is Amazon Customer Support so Good?”. Basically, when you put trust in your client, you earn a customer for life. This happens because people like to feel that they will always have what they want no matter what happens.

People like to feel listened to. If your business knows how to hear customer problems and prioritize their complaints, you will win a person willing to buy there because he knows that you will listen to him.

Always look for something that nobody does.

If you are thinking of creating an online business, there are many chances that you have to hear people who tell you that you can no longer make good money on practically any business.

Several months ago, I wrote about 5 ways in which I tried to make money online without success. However, just because it didn’t work for me doesn’t mean it can’t work for you.

I explained why dropshipping and online courses did not work for me. But currently, there are still people who are making very good money with it. An example of this is Sinem Gunel, who launched a new writing course despite having there are many writing courses around the internet and success.

The secret? She did something different the other courses didn’t offer.

With the course, you had access to a private community, personalized help, and weekly videos with famous writers.

You can create something as common as an online store or a course if you have something different to offer and you will succeed.

To stand out from the masses, you must give your customers something that other people are not offering, and that is a necessity. My store wasn’t successful because I only offered clothing online, something that already exists practically anywhere.

But my food machine was successful at the time because even though there were other food stores, none of them offered snacks without the need to talk to people or cross the street.

Create a powerful offer or guarantee.

If you are going to buy a computer, and there are two stores offering exactly the same product, one of them with a 5% discount, and the other you have to pay the full price, but you have a 1-year warranty on broken parts, and 6 months warranty in maintenance, which has more value?

The one that assures you that it is a good product or you get your money back.

If you know that your product works, then guarantee it. Adding this type of guarantee shows people that you really care about their satisfaction. Also, that the client will know that your product is legit because otherwise, you will not offer that.

Richard Osbaldiston explained in Psychonline the psychology of warranties:

“People are different in how they perceive risks. Some people are “risk-averse,” that is, they don’t like to take risks. They’d rather pay a little more to know that they are covered against a big loss. To risk-averse people, paying $500 to know that they won’t have to pay $1,000-$2,000 for a major repair just makes sense to them.”

A study by Dallas university also found that kindness around the time you have and the amount of money you can get back for a product you purchase is effective in increasing overall sales. Making it easier to return, with no questions asked, increases purchases because people will trust in you.

Address customer pain points

The other day I laughed a lot reading a post by Ryan Fan in which he told how he tried to cut his hair by himself, and it went disastrously wrong. The article tells everything he did to cut his hair, from a YouTube video training session to the process, and how he thought it would be easy but failed.

Although it seemed like a humorous article, it has a great lesson: people pay for things for which they are not willing to suffer. You pay professionals because it is easier than long hours of training that you could focus on other things.

Many people don’t pay for writing or trading courses because “eventually, with time and practice, you can get the same results.” But people don’t sell education, people sell time. You can achieve the same results as me in 1–2 years, or you can pay for a course that will teach you how to do it in a month.

When you market a solution instead of a product, psychologically, there are more opportunities to sell it. Anyone can sell you a dress. But not everyone can sell you a dress that you can buy online, with a package guarantee, good service and arrives at your home.

“People mostly spend money on two things: to reduce pain and to increase happiness.”— Martina Petrina

According to Wordstream, there are four main types of pain points:

• Financial pain points: When your client is spending too much money on something and want to reduce it.
• Productivity pain points: When the client is wasting too much time doing something and want to use their time more efficiently.
• Process pain points: when the client wants to improve a process.
• Support pain points: When they are not receiving the support they need when buying something.

When you sell something online, you don’t sell “a product that can be bought easily from a webpage”; you sell “having what you need at the click of a button” so that the person does not need to go out to have what they want.

That is why companies like Uber, Netflix, or Glovo were able to grow in the market with ideas that already existed before: Because they solved a problem that people had when they used a service.

Uber doesn’t solve a “ride problem,” taxis were here already, they solved the problem of not knowing who were this taxi and paid with a credit card, Netflix solved the situation of having to return a movie, Glovo solved having to pay delivery for every company, now any business can have delivery.

Final thoughts

People have a false concept that a wonderful product is the only thing they need to have a successful business.

However, it is only part of the truth.

Customers are more attracted to the people behind the brands, who they are, and what they have to offer. The quality of interaction between the company and its customers is essential to the success of the business.

Understanding what the client wants and offering that unique experience is what will make you stand out from the mass:

• Understand the market trends. When you know what your audience wants, it will be easier for you to provide a service that people are willing to consume.
• Provide legendary customer service. When a person trusts that they will always get their product no matter what happens, you will win a customer for life.
• Always look for something that nobody does. You can create something as common as an online store or a course if you have something different to offer, and you will succeed.
• Create a powerful offer or guarantee. Making a product easier to return, with no questions asked, increases purchases because people will trust in you.
• Address customer pain points. When a customer feels that you solve a problem, it is easier for them to continue using your service than when you are just “selling a product.”

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