Want a leg up on the competition? Teach. Use your expert knowledge as a differentiator to create a palpable competitive advantage as a business and as an employer. All you have to do is capture the knowledge you already have and provide it to the right stakeholders.
Here are four ways to use knowledge to differentiate your business from competitors:
1. Use knowledge to impress recruits.
Prove to potential top-tier employees that your organization is the place to work. With quality content and comprehensive curriculums, they’ll have all the information they need to understand:
- What your business does and why you do it better
- What you offer employees – why you’re a better place to work than others
- What opportunities and innovations you’re pioneering
2. Use knowledge to instill pride in staff and reduce turnover.
A great knowledge management system and a working knowledge transfer program makes any business a better place to work. Staff can compare working at your organization against others and see that:
- Your business makes it easier for employees (like them) to excel in their roles by providing all the need-to-know information
- The accountability systems in place are equal and fair; the expectations to know and employ knowledge are reasonable, given the availability of quality content
- Your organization is a leader in the industry, one for whom they can be proud to work
- Your organization recognizes the thought leadership of individuals by crediting them in the content
- Your company is the place to achieve career development and professional growth
3. Use knowledge to amaze and convert prospects.
Today’s consumers are researchers. It’s virtually impossible to impress them if you don’t provide them with knowledge. Knowledge, after all, is the reason they seek you out. They want to see if you have the knowledge to help them overcome their challenges or achieve their desired results.
Transfer the right knowledge to your prospects so that they:
- Completely understand your range of products/services/offerings with minimal effort
- Can rapidly get answers to their questions 24/7, from virtually anywhere
- Do not need to ask FAQs of your support staff
- Feel confident in your ability to deliver the best possible product or service to suit their needs
- Understand how your product/service is different and better than your competitors’
- Are persuaded to make a purchase decision, and feel confident in that decision
4. Use knowledge to keep customers coming back again and again.
Just because the prospect has converted into a customer doesn’t mean they no longer need your knowledge. In fact, this might be the greatest differentiator of all. Providing knowledge for customers after purchase is one of the greatest services a business can offer.
This reinforces to customers:
- That they’ve found a trustworthy and helpful resource; their purchase decision is validated
- That they can find all the resources they need to get the most out of their product or service
- That any questions they have about the product or service will be answered immediately and conveniently
- That your business has other products or services that might be useful to them
- That your business offers best-in-class customer service
Using your knowledge as a differentiator separates your business from the herd – but only if the right people can access it. When the right knowledge is available to the right people, everything just works. When they have concrete evidence before them, it’s easy for stakeholders to understand what sets you apart, what makes you better, and why they should choose you. Suddenly, the lack of knowledge available from your competitors becomes a detractor. In the light of everything you’re offering, the absence of knowledge makes everything less appear incomplete and of lesser quality.
