Business Strategy: Focus On What Sets You Apart

The key to defining your future may lie in being able to accurately and convincingly depict your past. So said two guest experts who participated Wednesday in the XChange Tech Builder business strategies session.

David Politis, principal and founder of Politis Communications, a Salt Lake City-based marketing, consulting and corporate communications company, advised XChange attendees to zero in on what makes them uniquely different. He shared, for example, experiences gleaned from his work with one client, PC Laptops of Salt Lake City. The company, founded by Dan Young, a Southern Californian and former gang member who migrated to the Utah market and formed his own system building organization, is celebrating his 10th anniversary. Young started the company after leaving a local VAR consultancy.

What Politis said he was able to do along with other third party business advisers and consultants was help Young hone in on what set his company apart. A local rival who later became a friend, for example, suggested Young focus on laptops only. So Young did, opening a retail location in a building that once housed a gas station. From there, Young eventually expanded his operation to five stores in the greater Salt Lake City area.

PC Laptops took off when the company focused on late night television advertising. Early spots did little to generate traffic, but a steady flow of customers followed after Young began airing what Politis described as 'zany' ads that put his company on the map. In one ad for example, Young dressed up as Princess Leia and promoted his company's systems as the "best PC laptops on the planet."

"Dan's technique is certainly not for everyone," Politis advised attendees of XChange. But, he added, there's a lesson in his approach for other system builders. For example, the retail storefronts, once an afterthought, actually helped drive his outbound sales to corporate, government and local educational accounts. And his zany ads, though lamentable to late night TV viewers, struck a chord with those who saw them.

"You cannot forget his ads," he said. "And that's what sets PC Laptops apart. The exercise that Young put his company through to look inward and distinguish itself from others is invaluable."

Invaluable, but in an of itself not the only thing white box companies need do to set themselves apart. Russ Lombardo, founder and principal of Peak Sales Consulting, a Las Vegas-based customer acquisition and retention specialist, helped XChange attendees identify best practices and processes that they should apply to their business (See related story). For example, he strongly advised that system builders not put caps on the salaries of their salespeople as some companies do. And he advised that they not reassign engineers without previous sales experience or training to serve as salespeople.