 What is a competitive advantage? It is simply put, the only reason why your customers will be buying you over your competitors. What makes you different, right? So there are three ways to create a competitive advantage. First up, it is through pricing. You can win your customers by offering a lower price, finding either a cheaper means of production or finding a cheaper means of ingredients or whatsoever. An example of that would be Costco or Walmart. They compete on pricing, and they always win the competitors through offering the lowest price possible. The pros of that is that they get a lot of volume. They get a lot of people buying from them, yet the cons of that, the disadvantage is the fact that there's no brand loyalty whatsoever and they have very low margins. And what does that mean? That means that if any other day there are people that are offering lower price, then your customer will jump ship right away because you are competing with pricing. And on top of that, with low margins, the risk of you failing is much higher because you just don't have enough profits to withstand any mistakes that you are to make in the future. So this is a tactic that I highly, highly would not recommend anyone to use as a competitive advantage out there to build a brand. So do not rely on pricing, okay? So this is just to show you what some other people are doing if you don't have deep enough pockets and if you're not really savvy and if you're not very business savvy, I would highly recommend not using price as your competitive advantage. Now, next up, trends. You can use trends as your competitive advantage. So you can capitalize on trendy products and trendy food ideas that are popular in other parts of the world. And you can bring it back to your city to separate yourself from your competition. The sense of the novelty will definitely bring people in. This is also known as hype. And that's how we were able to build our ice cream and dessert chain. We brought that concept from Korea and in Asia and it was really popular. So we brought it over to North America where people haven't seen this concept yet and yet that's the reason why we're able to be so popular within just months of opening. So for example, dotted ice cream is also a fat that happened really, really crazy a few years ago. Same with pinkberry. It gives you the ability to dominate a market when you can catch that wave, when you're part of the first comer advantage or first movers advantage rather, and you're able to really capitalize the market. However, it is very short lived. So for 720 sweets, our smoking ice cream, we had to pivot within a year of operating because we always had to bring in new items and it is very difficult to sustain that business model. And that's the reason why you need to, so you can start off with a trend, but you need to move into something more sustainable. So that's the reason why we started to serving a taiyaki, which is a baked croissant, right? So we're gonna tailor to different types of demographic and to serve different needs. So once again, trends is something that I highly don't recommend people to jump on board. However, to start and to kickstart your business, definitely it's something that you can consider as a competitive advantage. Next up, customer experience. This is by far my biggest way of differentiating myself amongst my competitors. It is to create a unique experience to build our brand and to win business from the competitors. The pros of this is that it has that business longevity because if you build a business right, if you focus on delivering quality experience for your customers, your customers will feel that and they'll come back again and again, they'll support you because now you have that personal relationship. It creates this brand loyalty. So even if you charge a little bit more than the market price, people will not jump ship because they're attached to your brand, because they're attached to that extra customer service. It allows you to charge that premium and it is very, very difficult for any other brands to copy you simply on your product offering because you focus on the customer experience. No one can copy you with the customer experience. It's the way you do things. However, the disadvantage of focusing on customer experience as a competitive advantage is the fact that it requires your constant effort to build and maintain this brand. You always have to focus on it. You need to make sure that the details are meticulous, that you follow all the details, you pay attention to them. And it also takes a little bit more time to build your reputation. So these are the three ways you can actually go out and compete in the marketplace. Now, why is it important for you to understand this? It is because having your competitive advantage is key in building any types of traction within your business. If you have no reason why people are buying from you, then there will be no buyers. So you need to give people a reason to buy from you. If your customers have a bad experience with your brand, with your food concept, it will completely ruin your brand. They would not recommend it to their friends and family and they'll write you a bad review. And that's the reason why I truly, really honestly focus on customer experience. And I really, really hope that you can focus on this way to differentiate your business as well. Because I've seen a lot of different brands succeed by focusing on customer experience because it builds true brand equity. What does that mean? That means people see your business as being valuable and you can actually be able to build something that means something. So when people hear about your brand, for example us, 720 Suites, when people hear about it, they automatically have a positive association with it. That itself is brand equity and it is worth a lot of money. And that's the reason why we were being acquired just earlier in the year with our whole dessert chain because we have built brand equity. Market prices will change drastically all the time. So if you compete on just pricing, it is very, very difficult to compete and it is very difficult to be profitable. If you compete with trends, the longevity of that is very, very hard to predict and usually it is very short lived. And that's the reason why, once again, focusing on customer experience is the way to go. And that's the reason why I will continue on diving deeper into customer experience and what that means. I'll be sharing with you the seven crucial touch points that create a good customer experience, rather actually the perfect customer experience. And these are the points to give you awareness of things to really focus on and areas that you can actually improve and craft an intentional experience through these seven touch points. Now to begin, what does it mean by touch points for some of you that don't know? It means that every time your customers interact with your brand, that itself is a touch point, okay? So for example, when they click into your profile or when they search your profile, that is a touch point. When your customers or potential customers hear about your brand from their friends, that is a touch point. How your friends describe your brand is a touch point because that itself is an interaction. When your customers order your product on Instagram, that itself is a touch point. When your customers receive the product and initially the first impression that itself is a touch point because they're interacting. So these are all areas of touch points that you need to pay attention to. So these are the seven crucial touch points that if you pay attention to them and if you're intentful in crafting the right experience, then that's what's gonna set you apart. First up, first encounter. The first encounter that a customer has with your brand, they might have seen your ad on Facebook, on Instagram, they might be browsing through your Instagram, they might be clicking through your website, regardless of the fact this is the first time they have interacting with your brand. And usually when people interact with your brand they have all these type of questions. They're thinking about, oh, what do you sell? How do I order if I like it? When is delivery? So they have all these type of questions. So if you're able to give them the answer before they reach out and ask you the questions, then that gives them a pleasant experience because there's no friction because, oh, whatever I'm thinking about, it's already all here. That itself is an intentional experience that you can potentially craft for your brand experience. So being attentive to these details would really go a long way. Next up, ordering your product, okay? Your ordering process needs to be quick, straightforward, and also you need to make that purchase button attractive and easy to find. There's so many times when I wanna buy something, I go to a website on my phone and I can't find a checkout button. And when I can't find it, I only have a attention span of a goldfish. When I can't find that checkout button, I'm like, you know what, I'll buy it from it later on my desktop and so on and so forth. And I forget to buy that. That itself creates friction for me ordering and that's the reason why you don't wanna, you wanna take out as much friction as possible, especially when people are ordering your product. It needs to be quick, easy, simple, and straightforward. Next up is receiving your product. So make sure that when you deliver your product, you give clear instructions on how and when they will be receiving their product, okay? So after people order it, your customers should be prepped for their expectation. Set the right expectation, that is key because when your customers are expecting one thing and if you don't deliver what they're expecting, that creates gap. That gap itself is a negative experience. Whereas if you set the right expectation for your customers and you deliver the same thing as what they're expecting, then you're meeting their expectation. And better yet, you should exceed that expectation and think about ways of how you can grow and how you can actually give a better experience. So for example, send a friendly follow up email to your customer who ordered from you or maybe even with a discount code for them to order for the next time. And that encourages people to buy from you again and again. Provide a super wow experience for either pickup or delivery and be very thoughtful. I'll give you an example. A DoorDash guy was delivering bubble tea for my wife, okay? And then when they were delivering it, they put this bubble tea in a cooler box and they were waiting for me and they made sure to keep six feet apart and they left it on my doorway. So when I went out to get my bubble tea, the guy was just like, thank you so much for ordering. Here's your bubble tea and I took the bubble tea. When I went inside, he then grabbed his cooler and left. Within five minutes, he sent me a message. Hope you enjoy your bubble tea from whatever brand and took a picture of it. So then I'm like, wow, that itself is a pleasant, super pleasant experience, even from a DoorDash driver. So think about for your specific brand, how can you stand out and how can you make this experience that much better for your customer? So for example, if you're delivering a frozen meal kit to your customers, maybe perhaps putting it in a proper cooler bag for delivery to ensure that it's really cool. It looks amazing, good presentation and to remind them to refrigerate it. And this goes a really long way receiving your product. Unboxing, when your customers open the box for the very first time, how does it make them feel? How can you craft that experience to make it feel even better? Perhaps thank you cards or a personalized message to thank them or teach them how to use the products within your food concept. Those are all really great ways to intently craft a good experience for this specific touch point. Next up, when they're making or eating the product, okay? Go the extra mile and provide the right tools and the guidance. So for example, either a simple recipe book, instruction sheets or specific tools to eat your food. So for example, if I'm selling seafood online and let's say we need to open and de-shell a crab, then perhaps including a pair of scissors that are used specifically to cut the crab would be a really good idea. And it's something that I've seen before from different brands out there. So really being attentive to how your customers are experiencing your brand is the way to go. I'll give you another example. I ordered this Korean kit to eat at home. So the Korean food includes raw meat, includes lettuce, includes garlic, includes all the sauces and everything. Now when I'm cooking the food, I'm forgetting about how long I should cook the meat for. So then they actually included a brochure or a postcard rather and told me exactly how long I should be cooking and searing my meat for, what I should be adding in my lettuce wrap, different ways of eating it, different sauce combination that makes it a little bit different experience. And that itself is a very attentive experience even through while I was eating and I really loved the whole experience and that's the reason why I'm talking to you guys about it. Make that experience unique and make that experience detailed and make that experience pleasant. Next up, providing feedback. Receiving quality feedback is essential for your business success, okay? Make it convenient. So if I really, really like that Korean kit and if they made it easy for me to actually write a review for them, I would definitely do that. And I have done that because they have done an amazing job letting me know how I can leave a review, letting me know what is the least friction way to leave a review with them, right? Perhaps providing a survey for them and incentivize them. So when there's a sheet that says, hey Noah, provide us a feedback and for your chance to win $50 for your next meal. Something along the lines of that allows me and incentivize me to give them a feedback and in turn, they can use that feedback to share it with the other customers out there and this becomes really positive flywheel to get even more customers. Next up, repeat use, okay? Only if it's applicable for your food concept. For example, if you're doing meal kits or whatnot, this is the point that you would be looking at. Is your food concept easy and convenient for your customers to reuse? So for example, if you're selling a pasta meal kit and it's three servings, maybe perhaps instead of having one batched packet of all your sauces, separate it into three different packets. So then that way for three different servings, you can actually individually cook them every single time. So then that way you don't need to put it in a Ziploc bag because putting in a Ziploc bag is another friction for the whole experience. It allows your customers to avoid re-measuring, hey, how much should I pour out and overusing the sauce or wasting the sauce, right? If not, is it easy and convenient to reorder? And what I mean by that is if your product is not a repeat use, is it easy for me to reorder from you again, right? Perhaps providing a QR code with even more of the other great products that you have to offer within your shop is a good idea to incentivize people to order from you again as well. So these are the seven touch points that I want you to be aware of when you're crafting that experience, that customer experience and paying attention to it. Definitely pay attention to it. Intentfully craft an experience, a good experience, your unique experience and your way of showing up to your customers for each of the steps and each of the touch points. So once again, we created a specific meal kit or a brand rather called Bulbasaur and it's basically an at home bubble tea kit and this whole case study is to show you and to go along this whole process with you on how you can create a pleasant experience. So definitely go check out our example of the different touch points within the link below, download it, check it out. And this is also what we decided to do. We talked about having a pleasant experience. So when people unboxed, we had different branding and at the same time, we also included a thank you card with different ways for them to reorder from us how to actually use them and what is included within their whole package. We also included a recipe book right here, customization of how strong they want their bubble tea, how strong and how chewy they want their Bulbas and basically really customized and really, really dove into the whole experience that I'm talking to you guys about and this is what's gonna set us apart from my competitors, right? So now it is your turn to establish your competitive advantage, define your customer experience. Do not, and once again, I repeat, do not compete with pricing, okay? Compete with customer experience and if you really want to and if it is a really good idea for trends, then you can compete with trends but know for a fact that if you compete with trends, you need to evolve your product as time goes on. Write down all the business touch points that your brand will have with your customers and design how you want your customers to feel, how that would look like with your customers as they're doing unboxing, as they're doing reviews, as they're planning to reorder from you. Go out there, do that, download in the resources below and I'll see you guys in the next lesson.