Home topics small-business-resources sales-and-marketing Hot Tips Marketing Small Business Hot Tips Don’t compete on price, compete on ‘wow’ Gina Baldassarre September 9, 2013 After 30 years in the industry, Australian marketing expert John Dwyer has seen businesses try everything. Dwyer has worked with thousands of businesses of all sizes, boasting KFC and Westfield among his clients. However, whether they’re big or small, he believes most of them are making the same mistakes with their marketing. According to Dwyer, the biggest mistake businesses are making is trying to compete on price rather than marketing their unique ‘wow’ factor. “You don’t want people buying on price, because if they’re doing that with you this week they’re going to the guy who’s cheaper next week,” he said. “Two dollar stores are built to compete on price, but most of us butchers, bakers, and candlestick makers can’t continue to have 50 per cent discounts. It might be an interesting thing to do once to draw a lot of people in, but you can’t do it every week,” Dwyer said. For small businesses, the problem lies in their lack of marketing expertise. “When I’m doing seminars, I’ll stand on the stage and ask, who believes that sales and marketing skills are the most important thing in business? Of course everyone will put their hand up. They all have solicitors or accountants, because they’re not experts in those areas, but when I ask how many people have someone advising them on marketing, nobody puts their hand