In the marketplace, there are many businesses that claim to be #1. Does your business make that kind of claim? If you position yourself as “the best” in some way, you might need to rethink that claim…
In just about every industry, companies use brands and taglines and slogans to shout to prospective customers, “we’re the best – hire US.”
This is true in just about every industry, from automotive to real estate… and the home services industry, too. Plumbers, electricians, HVAC, drain cleaning, and other home services compete for position in the customer’s mind. Just open the Yellow Pages and you’ll see ad after ad of businesses saying, “we’re #1 in the area” or “we’re the best at HVAC” or some such claim.
Maybe you advertise your business that way. We certainly do at my company, Gold Medal Service! But the reason I’m writing this article is to ask you this question: can you back up the claim that you are the best?
If you claim to be amazing, number 1, the top company, or the best… are you living up to that level?
The problem is: many companies claim to be the best, and they even THINK they are the best, but in reality, they do not live up to that high standard.
Compare your business to your competitors. You may each claim to be the best, so… how do you stack up against your competitors in terms of your trade lines, your customer service, the professionalism of your team, the cleanliness of your trucks, the timeliness of your service, your hours of operation, and so on?
If you can’t see a difference between what you do and what your competitor does then guess what – neither of you are “the best”. And here’s the worst part: your customers can’t tell the difference between you (yes, even if you think your logo is amazing and your competitor’s logo sucks).
Imagine how customers feel: they hire your company because you claim to be the best but they have exactly the same experience with your company that they had with a different company last year that also claimed to be the best. You end up with annoyed, disloyal customers.
The bottom line is: there are MANY home service businesses that claim to be the best, yet are merely good, and actually just mediocre: They deliver the lowest standard of service that customers expect; they have an average team; their timeliness is industry-standard; their team’s cleanliness and professionalism are not outstanding; their service guarantees are within industry practices.
Most frustrating to me is: the business owners who are claiming to be the best are actually fooled – yes FOOLED – into thinking that they are absolutely head-and-shoulders above every other competitor in the market, yet they are delivering exactly the same service that their competitors are delivering.
So if you are claiming to be “the best”, then just STOP RIGHT NOW.
Stop claiming to be the best… until you figure out HOW you can be the best.
- If you want to be the best then you need to figure out EXACTLY what you’re the best at. What do you do differently than EVERY other competitor is doing right now? (If you can’t answer that then you don’t get to call yourself “the best”).
- You don’t have to be the best at everything. Maybe start by being the best at one thing (“best response times” or “best team of experts” or something else that your customer will value). Then proclaim how good you are at that one thing. Later, you can always expand and eventually become generically “the best” because you really are the best at many things… but until you can legitimately make that claim, start by being the best at one thing.
- Back up your claims with proof – that could be data, testimonials, etc. But a claim of being the best needs to show why you make that claim.
- And most importantly: Level up your game to a higher level than you are playing right now. The biggest problem among businesses that claim to be the best is that they are actually only good or even just mediocre. Ask yourself, “if all companies in my market are the average, what is massively better than any of them?” Then build that into your business to be the best. (Hint: it will stretch you beyond what you think you’re capable of… but once you achieve it, you’ll notice a massive difference in your team, your customers, and your revenues).
The best. It’s a title that gets thrown around a lot. But if you can’t back it up then you end up creating annoyed and disloyal customers. Fortunately, the solution is simple: stop claiming to be the best until you can actually figure out HOW to be the best in the market. You can be the best, even at something small to begin with, but when you can back up that you’re the best with proof, and when you reach higher than ever before to the next level, you’ll set yourself apart and your customers will notice that you truly are the very best for them.
