The other day I was looking for a new water bottle, but there were so many choices. How was I supposed to decide? My primary concern was finding one that I held enough water, was easy to hold, and could be washed. My secondary selector was the price. In the end, I had to compromise because I couldn’t find a water bottle that had the features that I specifically wanted. But I did find one out of the bunch that made me feel good compared to the others.
Clients have lots of choices. In fact, it can seem overwhelming because there are so many choices. Even though there are so many choices, there is often nothing to distinguish one product from another. This leaves customers having to choose based on things like what they’re familiar with, what’s readily available, or what’s cheapest.
But if you want to make it easier for your clients to choose you–you’re going to have to approach things differently. You’ll need to look and sound different.
Pret A Manger is a sandwich shop franchise based out of the United Kingdom. There are lots of sandwich shops so what did this company do to help them stand out in the crowd? They combined fresh, fast, and reasonably priced to create an experience that was unique.
When this company says fresh they mean fresh. Their pre-made sandwiches are made in the back kitchen every morning. There is no best before date on the packaging, because if it doesn’t sell that day it’s donated to charity.
It’s fast. Once you make your selection, they strive to have you checked out in less than 60 seconds.
The food is reasonably priced.
That’s a unique combination that sets them apart from the other sandwich shops.
The layout of their shop is unique from other sandwich shops as well.
When a person wants a fast fresh healthy sandwich, Pret A Manger makes it easy to choose them.
What can you do to make it easier for your clients to choose you?
Photo credit: One word. Yum! Thanks for the sandwich photo, Amirali Mirhashemian. Thanks to Marco Verch for the photo of the lovely Pret A Manger storefront! And to InSapphoWeTrust and Transport Pixels (sure hope that’s not your given names) for a peek into the inside.