What does your company sell? Whether you’re making handmade jewelry in your basement or you’re a major manufacturer of consumer products, you’re actually “selling” the same thing.
Yes, your products and services are what your customers buy. But they can probably find the same or very similar products elsewhere. So what “sold” them is not really your product. Your customers buy from you because they found something different between you and your competition.
Your Unique Value
That difference is unique to you. If it wasn’t, customers would have no particular reason to buy from you versus buying anywhere else. The difference must also hold value for your customers, if not it wouldn’t really matter.
Your unique value, or unique selling proposition (USP), is really why your customers choose you.
Very often, USPs are very basic. Your location might be your USP (you’re the only blacksmith in town) or you have the lowest price (you’re the cheapest blacksmith in town). But those sorts of USPs can very quickly become quite un-unique. Another blacksmith sets up shop or offers a lower price and – *poof* – there goes your USP – and the reason anyone has to buy from you.
Ultimately, your USP comes down to the experience your customers have with your company throughout their buying cycle. Did they quickly find the information they needed on your website, or in other marketing materials? Did they get quick, on-point answers to their questions? Was the ecommerce platform easy-to-use? Was their purchase delivered on time and did it meet their expectations?
If you look at those questions carefully, you’ll realize that you’re not really in control of some or all of the answers. It’s an interesting state of affairs. Your customers buy from you because of the experience they have of your business from initial contact to final delivery and beyond. Yet major parts of that experience are outside of your control, or not a core function of your business.
Customer Experience = Your Brand
Every experience or touch-point customers have with your business is part of your brand. It means that, if that touch-point is contracted out to a third party, like your logistical requirements, you must choose a third-part logistics company who can deliver the experience your customers expect from your brand.
So your fulfillment company must support your brand in everything they do. And here are some of the things you should look for to find one that does:
- Warehousing
- Product Assembly
- Packaging Options
- Prompt delivery to your geographic markets
- Customer support for tracking and proof-of-delivery
Think about it. You go out of your way to provide a good product and service. What happens when your fulfillment company doesn’t do the same? Your customer’s experience of your business is negatively affected despite all your efforts. That’s the challenge you have in choosing your fulfillment partner.