If you want to do the competition one better, you’ve got to raise the bar in your category. What that means is that you have to develop a differentiator than positions your company as a leader not a follower. Here is a 5-step primer to doing exactly that:

1) Analyze how you carry out business on a regular basis. Are there any best practices, you could exploit?

2) Take these best practices and package them into a tangible process. 

3) Brand this process as a proprietary product, using a trademarkable identity.

4) Develop additional processes to validate and trouble shoot for effectiveness, ie: ROI

5) You now have a self-administered compliance that you can market as exclusive to your business. It is sort of your own Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval. Market it extensively. Scream from the mountain-tops.

As a self-administered compliance – only your company owns it. If it is compelling enough, it will effectively differentiate you. Now you have something you can build on and possibly add sub-brands to down the road – strengthening the offer.