Do you have a "Me Too" or "Just Me" strategy?

Hal Yoh, CEO, Day & Zimmerman mentioned this catchy phrase during a recent CEO roundtable. It's simple but speaks volumes about successful growth strategies for both companies and individuals.

It confirms what we've been saying for years; that instead of trying to fit in it's better to create your own fit where you can create a just me versus me too perception with your customers and prospects.

Optimal performance and recognition comes from differentiating - standing out from the crowd and providing something that is perceived as being special and valuable to the marketplace. It's creating a just me value proposition that attracts people and customers. It provides the flexibility, stability and pricing power to sustain growth over the long-term.

Contrast this with a me too philosophy that blasts out the word commodity. How valuable are commodities viewed in the marketplace? Enough to pay a premium or drive special behavior? Do you care about which brand of gasoline you put into your car? Would you pay a lot more for a Coke over a Pepsi? A me too strategy means you'll face a lot more competition with continual pressure to improve service at a reduced price. Unless you're Walmart, competing on volume and reduced prices isn't a good strategy. It's hard to grow long-term when your competition is increasing and your profits are falling.

Contrast this with Starbucks which took a basic commodity, coffee and turned it into a perceived higher value product that sold at much higher prices. This resulted in strong revenue and profit growth which sparked a massive build-out of thousands of locations throughout the world.

So how do you start to build a "just me" offering?

Begin with yourself and try to be more of who you already are. We all have a unique blend of talents and interests. Unfortunately we rarely use them to our fullest potential. Fitting in often means not rocking the boat, not expressing yourself or advocating for your talents and interests. We leave that to others. But organizations really focus on conformity.

Your fullest potential can only be achieved by using your fullest potential. That may be in your current situation or it may be in a different situation.

Focus on your uniqueness and how that can make a difference in your customers' perception. How can you improve their experiences, perception, etc. of you and your offerings? How can you leverage your uniqueness to do things that your competition can't?

As the leader of your company, department, team or yourself, you need to first model that behavior. Be the best role model that you can be by being more of who you already are. Create that differentiation in yourself and your employees so you can create that differentiation in the marketplace. And follow that just me attitude to sustained long-term growth in sales and profits.