This Place Just Feels Different: Winning on the Experience
Too many believe that to beat a big company, they need to become a smaller version of the big company. You don't.
This Place Just Feels Different.
Choosing the Experience
For our anniversary, Victoria and I could have gone just about anywhere. We chose Chimney Rock, NC.
When we first moved to North Carolina together from Miami, we rented an Airbnb for a week right along this river. We hiked. Sat around campfires. Took some very cold swims. And made memories that turned this into one of our favorite places.
So when it came time to decide where we wanted to spend our anniversary, we didn't choose the biggest city, the fanciest resort, or some exotic destination.
We chose the experience.
We chose a place because of the way it makes us feel.
A Lesson for Startups
There’s a lesson in there for startups trying to compete against the Goliaths in their market. Too many believe that to beat a big company, they need to become a smaller version of the big company.
You don't.
Your size can actually give you an opportunity to create an experience they can't.
Know your Why. Understand your prospect's Why. Then connect the two throughout the decision process.
Make the experience personal. Make it authentic. Make it memorable.
Why They Chose Us
I tell a story in Health Tech Giant Slayer about winning a very large health system over a much larger competitor. Afterward, I asked the executive why they chose us.
His answer has stuck with me ever since:
“We felt like you were trying to help us make a decision. Your competitor was just trying to sell us.”
Not the product.
Not the size of the company.
Not the price tag.
The experience.
People remember how you make them feel. Your prospects do too.
And sometimes that's exactly how David beats Goliath.
