In my previous blog post, I wrote about the lack of differentiation between companies, which leaves the potential customers “swimming in a sea of sameness”, making difficult for them to reach to a decision, as they can’t easily find value.

It may come as a surprise to you, but one of the reasons for this lack of differentiation is the use of what we call “Best Practices”.  Best Practices are operational tools that has proven to be very effective for improving, among others, productivity, and efficiency, like, for instance, the adoption by other car manufacturers the production processes of Japanese automotive industry.     

Unfortunately, Best Practices instead of being used for purposes that we have just described, ended up in many cases to be considered as strategy defining tool.  Hence, companies went on copying products, services, sales and marketing strategies of market leaders, leading to what is called “Strategic Herding”, where eventually all suppliers look the same to the eyes of a potential buyer.

Consequently, price wars begin, since due to lack of value, price becomes the main issue, therefore margins drop for everyone involved.  On the other hand, as brand strength becomes the only differentiator between competitors, advertisement spending rises. 

To avoid situations like these, organisations need to look for “White Spaces”, which according to Mark Johson’s relevant article in Harvard Business Review are “places where a company might have room to maneuver in a crowded playing field”.  In plain words, White Spaces are opportunities waiting to be exploited.  As always, opportunities may involve risks and require further investment from a company, but the earnings might be substantial even to the point of acquiring the advantage of a first mover in the market.    

Since we as salespeople are considered to be the interconnectors between an organisation and the outside world, then it is mostly down to us to spot those White Spaces.  In order to do so, we need to comprehend the dynamics of the market, to know the competition and to fully understand the capabilities and limitations of our products and services.