If your business is like most, the products you sell or the services you deliver are pretty much the same as those of your competitors. In academia, business students are taught that, in order to attract customers, a business must differentiate their products and services. That’s a good concept to know and understand, but the difficult part of that task is to figure out how to create those differences and how to communicate them to your prospects in a manner they will understand.

One very effective method of differentiation is branding your product or service because most of the effort is expended in creating words and graphics instead of creating differences in the actual item. The first step is to discover the factors your customers need, want, or are willing to pay for and create a name that communicates those key factors. Highlight that name, make it attractive with a graphic logo, explain it with a tag line and advertise it at every opportunity to create the brand. Use the brand on packaging and signage. Use the brand whenever you speak about your branded product or service. Soon you will have prospects asking about it and customers buying it.

Your branded product or service doesn’t have to be particularly different from those offered by the competition. Look, lending institutions sell loans or, in fact, rent money. They have come up with all types of branded names for their loans based on use for the money, easy applications, speed of the application process, size and friendliness of the institution, but the product (renting money) is the exactly the same from every lending company.

Analyze what you sell. Somewhere in that mix there are a number of brandable products, services, systems, processes, or attitudes that can be enhanced, differentiated, and made more sellable by the branding process. Listen to the questions your customers ask and the problems they are seeking solutions for. Your brandable name might be the answer to those questions or the solution to their problems.

Place your brand on it. Differentiate it. Sell more of it.

Larry Galler Email Larry on larry@larrygaller.com.