Print Buying And The Tomato Connection

You know what I learned last week? Not all canned tomatoes are the same.

I don’t mean San Marzano’s or other imported tomatoes used for Sunday dinner that transform into sauce – or gravy if you’re really serious about it – I mean basic diced tomatoes.

Im pretty sure my shopping habits are in line with everyone else’s. When I need diced tomatoes, I usually pick the can on sale, or one from the brands I “trust.” It’s something I don’t give much thought to since I figure Im going to add my own magic and transform them anyhow.  

But if you are a company that makes and sells diced tomatoes, and there are plenty of resources out there, how to you stand out from the crowd in that crowded aisle of competition?

Hunts did something pretty cool. During a commercial they pointed out, and instantly solved, a problem I didn’t even realize I had. It seems Hunts is the ONLY brand that cleans their tomatoes naturally with steam peeling. Yep, that’s right. That means the OTHERS don’t, which pretty much implies unnatural (aka chemicals) are involved.

In a minute or less, Hunts gave me ONE pretty good reason to buy them over everyone else, and one was enough when it came to diced tomatoes.

So, I bet you can tell where I am going now.

If you stripped down your pitch down to the one thing that made you DIFFERENT, what would it be?

Before you answer, take price, quality and customers service out of the equation. 99-percent of you will cite one or more of these to potential customers.  And while they are important, it wont always be enough to tip the scale in your favor if you can’t pinpoint something deeper that your company brings to the table. So how do you find out what that is, objectively?

I think the best people to tell you what makes you different are your customers. There are reasons they choose you and keep coming back – apart from price, customer service and quality. Use that information to rethink your approach to prospects and set yourself apart from the start. Quite frankly, NOT pitching on price, customer service and quality could be the ONE thing that sets you apart. 

As for me, I don’t use diced tomatoes often, but I will only be using Hunts from now on.