Tag Archives: Inside Advantage

You might be thinking “who is on first and what is on second?” if you’ve had any exposure to the old Abbott and Costello joke.  What I’m actually referring to though is the first thing that should be done in business; finding the WHO that is your client and defining them as descriptively as possible.  To get to second base you do want to find your “What” which is defining your unique offering.

Back in 2007 at the Fortune Growth Summit in Las Vegas, I had the pleasure of meeting and getting to know Robert Bloom (engaging in conversation around Italian food and his love of the country).

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Recently I wrote two blogs on the Inside Advantage, discussing the Who and What that make up your offerings.  Today I’m going to finish up this topic and talk about the How and the Own It’s of this great strategy.

The HOW part is your persuasive strategy that gets your Who (your core customer) to buy your What (your uncommon offering).  This approach doesn’t void out competition, but it does allow you to stay ahead of them and to stand out from them, a process that is both dynamic and constant.

Bob (author of Inside Advantage) states that there are five hallmarks to a good persuasive strategy:

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We’ve made it to first and discovered our “who” in the last blog.  Now it’s time to talk about our “what” that is sitting on second.  To further the discovery into your Inside Advantage, we need to have a cleare understanding of the “what” that you offer to your clients.

What you learn is the difference between what business you think you’re in, versus the business you are actually in.  Many businesses think that the transaction that takes place between them and their client is their business.  For example, if I remove junk, I’m in the junk business.  If I develop software I’m in the software business.   If I sell coffee, I’m in the coffee business.

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