Select Call Centre

I don't know if this happens to you, but I've been caught off guard by innocent questions like "Where do you work?" or "So, what do you do for a living?" Questions like these are an excellent opportunity for me - and you - to communicate professionally to others just what we're doing. The problem is that we just don't know what to say on a moment's notice.

When we're in public, we have valuable opportunities to meet people and share information about our company, our products and our services. We want to learn from our present customers and learn more about our future customers. As business owners and company representatives, we need to create opportunities to do just that!

It's surprising how many top executives are prepared to talk about their business - in an interesting way - with anyone they meet. Bob Bannerman, president of Bob Bannerman Motors Ltd. in Toronto loves to talk with strangers. He says, "Nothing will happen if I don't strike up conversations. You'd better feel very comfortable starting conversations". Bob Bannerman knows that opportunities surround him when he's with the public, and he's prepared to talk!

Well, the reality for most of us is that we don't feel comfortable talking with people we haven't met. The good news is we can prepare ourselves in advance for our next "chance" meeting with a stranger.

Fortunately, we don't need to memorize a long, involved explanation of what we do! (That might be worse than doing nothing at all...) We can focus what we want to say by asking ourselves questions like "Why are we in business?", "What do we do best?", and "Who are our best customers?"

Questions like these help us define our "competitive advantage".

Our competitive advantage is something that sets us apart from our competition. We may be in the same business as a dozen competitors, but we can discover our best advantages: is it location, service, selection, or price? Do your staff (or you) have special expertise? How much do you spend on staff training and incentives compared to your competition? Thinking in terms of competitive advantage helps us think about what we do best in a way that makes sense to the person you're talking with.

Once we define our competitive advantage we can begin to see how we can express ourselves in a way that "connects" with people we meet. At the Select Group of Companies, for instance we say we "marry high tech services with a warm human touch". That's the fundamental result and purpose of our business and all of our hardware, software, and training programs serve that purpose.

Linda Lundstrom, a Canadian fashion designer, says "...people buy products (or services) because they feel some sense of connection with the product's creator, or they feel a sense of connection with the philosophy of the company that sells it. That's more powerful than directly promoting the service or product." Linda sells clothes by talking about the ideas and core values behind her fashion designs. That's her competitive advantage, and Linda's ready to talk about it!

Thinking about our competitive advantage in advance of our next meeting with the public will give us the confidence we need to talk about our products and services. Whether we're in fashion design or oilfield service work, we'll be ready to answer those questions about "where we work" and "what we do for a living"!