"Clients don't understand that their success is related on standing out, not fitting in....you want to be the needle in the haystack, not the haystack" - Don Draper

On some recent This Week in Coverager episodes, I have asked this question, if a local mutual disappeared, would anyone notice or care? The majority of people I survey say NO! Why is that? It's because they have been commoditized. Essentially selling a product that is easily replicable with lots of substitutes in the market (like auto or homeowners). If one disappeared, a customer would have lots of similar options elsewhere. This is a massive problem in not only insurance, insurtech or fintech but in all of business. So how do stop being a commodity???

You differentiate!

In this episode, I spoke with branding expert, Ben Baker as we discussed this problem. We discussed a bunch of simple and straightforward ways that any company can differentiate themselves and their product. Everything from real customer-centric actions, to culture, hiring practices and perhaps scores of other ways outside of price (superior of simplified coverages, go more vertical or horizontal in your product/service etc). No matter what your competitors are doing, no matter how big they are or how many resources they have, there are customers they can't serve better than you. Figure that out, execute, control your fate!