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Why would a customer choose us over the other options?

Prepared by the Flawian team · Reviewed .

Compare your offer with what the buyer could actually choose instead, including doing the work themselves. In this invented case, a cafe needed a menu before Friday, and a print shop's premium paper did not solve it, since its service took seven days. Find the buyer's real constraint before changing your message, service or price.

Principle and explanation

An offer can sound impressive and still miss what the buyer needs. This example shows how to compare the customer's actual choices before changing a message, a service or a price.

Start with the decision the buyer faces

Market research asks about customer needs and alternatives. Competitive analysis includes indirect alternatives too, as the US Small Business Administration explains. The buyer may choose another supplier, do the work themselves or keep the current arrangement.

A customer segment is a group, such as cafes. A need is a particular problem in a particular situation, such as corrected menus before Friday. Ask which options the buyer actually considered and what mattered. One conversation can uncover an important question, but does not establish how common that need is across the market.

A testimonial supports a specific experience

Suppose a past buyer truthfully praised one rush print job. That experience does not establish that every order can be ready tomorrow. The US Federal Trade Commission's endorsement guidance covers this case. When an advertiser cannot show a customer's result is what people generally achieve, the ad must make clear what results people can generally expect.

Before promising tomorrow's delivery, check relevant delivery records, current capacity and the scope of the work. Use customer evidence truthfully and with permission where required; applicable publishing and disclosure rules depend on the jurisdiction. A business without customers can show an honest demonstration, clearly labelled as a demonstration, rather than inventing an endorsement.

A changed choice is a question to investigate

If a competing shop adds an editable menu service, that changes one available alternative. It does not establish that your customers will switch. Ask whether it solves a need your buyers have, what work they must still do and which parts of the claim are supported.

The response could be a clearer message, a different service scope, a different target situation or a small test. Those are different changes. A new slogan cannot repair a delivery promise the business cannot meet. A lower price does not repair the fictional cafe's missed deadline.

Worked example

The cafe needs a menu before Friday

In this fictional case, a cafe asks on Monday for an updated menu before Friday of the same week. It also expects to change prices regularly. A print shop promotes excellent design and premium paper, but its layout and print service takes seven calendar days: completion would be the following Monday.

Another local shop offers a Tuesday print slot if the cafe supplies a ready file. A self-service template allows immediate editing, but leaves the cafe owner responsible for preparing and checking the file and arranging any printing. We do not yet know whether the cafe has a ready file or can do that work.

Premium paper does not solve this buyer's immediate deadline or later editing need. The original shop asks which constraint mattered and checks whether it could deliver a smaller, quicker revision service. It might instead serve a different situation where its full design service fits.

The lesson is to test the fit between need, alternative and promise. This case does not prove the competitor is feasible, that every cafe values speed most, or that the original shop should lower its price. The missing file, capacity and update responsibilities need checking first.

  • The cafe, suppliers and service terms are invented for this comparison, not real endorsements or market research.
  • The request arrives on Monday; the deadline is before Friday that week. Seven calendar days later is the following Monday.
  • Prices, file readiness and the cafe owner's ability to prepare print-ready work are unknown. No alternative is declared the winner.
One cafe's fictional choices: deadline before Friday and repeated future changes
AlternativePreparation and timingLater changes or missing evidence
Full design and print serviceShop prepares layout; ready the following MondayLater editing arrangements need checking; current deadline missed
Competitor's print serviceCafe supplies ready file; Tuesday slot if file is readyWho updates the file? Does the cafe have one?
Self-service templateCafe can edit now; owner prepares and checks the fileCafe owns later edits; printing and ability to prepare the file remain unresolved

Common misconceptions

A memorable sentence proves a competitive advantage.
It shows that the sentence can be remembered. The customer's reason to choose and the evidence supporting the promise still need checking.
A happy customer's result proves what everyone can expect.
A selected experience may concern a different task or unusual circumstances. Check evidence relevant to the promise being made.
A lost sale means the price must fall.
The cafe's stated obstacle is timing and future editing. Find the actual decision constraint before choosing which part of the offer to change.

First step

Reconstruct one real buying decision

Choose one recent won or lost decision. Record the buyer's stated need, the alternatives they considered and the work each option required from them. Mark which part of your promise has relevant evidence and which remains an assumption. Use the gap to choose one small investigation or offer test. Treat a few reachable buyers as a source of questions, not proof of the whole market.

Sources