In this workshop Vistage speaker and author of the book, Creating Competitive Advantage, Jaynie Smith clearly defines what is and is not a competitive advantage. She will quickly show members that 95% of all companies do not even know their competitive advantages, much less are able to communicate a compelling reason why customers should choose their product or a service. How can a salesperson compete without this information?
This presentation will:
- Spell out the importance of a clearly defined and communicated competitive advantage as a fundamental to the marketing and sales functions.
- Produce some serious “myth busting” about the role of differentiation in companies.
- Participants will become aware that all strategic planning and leadership functions begin with this “stepchild” of business planning (it is the foundation for successful sales).
- Show how sales people must be armed with that which distinguishes a company in a competitive environment.
- Demonstrate that effective advertising and marketing campaigns depend on clearly defined competitive advantages, not just company strengths.
- Operational decisions depend on this exercise yet most companies never even consider it.
Members are asked to help each other uncover what they think differentiates them in their marketplace. The number one ingredient that Warren Buffet looks for in companies he invests in is “sustainable competitive advantage.” Most middle market companies are unarmed in this area.
Value to members
Participants will walk away with the backbone of a new “sales and marketing campaign.” They will also learn new ways to uncover competitive advantage opportunities being able to return to their companies and make substantive business decisions. Members will understand new areas and ways to communicate what they discover. Members will also realize the value of measurements and implement new metrics which can help “sell” the company products/services.
Speaker Biography
Jaynie L. Smith is president of Smart Advantage, Inc., a marketing/management consultancy whose clients range from mid-sized companies to Fortune 100 companies. She is the author of the best-selling business book, “Creating Competitive Advantage,” published by Doubleday. “Creating Competitive Advantage” is now in its 16th re-print and consistently ranks in the top 1% of all books sold on Amazon.com and BarnesandNoble.com. She has been a featured guest on ABC World News This Morning, Bloomberg News, and MSNBC. She’s also been featured in Entrepreneur, Industry Week, Investors Business Daily, and Business Strategies magazines. With more than 30,000 hours of direct coaching experience with CEOs, she has received 15 Top Performer Awards for CEO coaching.
Reserve your seat at the table today.
