In a perfect market (such as the stock market), a commodity is bought and sold daily, and it makes no difference who provides that commodity, they are all deemed to be equally valuable. (Think crude oil, orange juice, pork bellies, corn, etc...)
Isn't that what you want? To have your goods and services sold? Yes, but the second part of that equation is what kills you; at the lowest possible price.
How do you avoid being a commodity? One of the ways to avoid being a commodity is to be unique. Upscale romantic restaurants offer fine dining, at prices that are multiples of a basic fast food experience. Why? Because they have created a unique ambience, experience, and culture that allows diners to know that they are getting more than a hamburger and fries...they are getting an experience. When the romantic restaurant rose above being just a food purveyor, and became an entertainment/experience purveyor...they stopped being a commodity.
Vangie Berry used to say, "The best are always free. The value of their service more than pays for their fee." If you want to NOT be a commodity, one of the options is to be the best at your profession.
Think of attorneys. There are thousands of attorneys that are scrambling to pay their bills, and then there are attorneys that have people lining up to hire them, at exorbitant fees. Why? Because, in law, second place means that you lost. They can afford to charge huge fees because their clients reasonably expect them to win. In law, winning is everything. So they can charge the fees that they want, while other attorneys are giving away their services.
What are some ways that you can "de-commoditize" your business? One technique, that has been shown to be profitable, is to offer excellent client service. One of the ways to do that is to find out EXACTLY what the client needs, by asking them open ended and closed ended questions to probe and discover needs that the client might not have realized. I have included a link to a video that explains this in detail. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HX-ePkaFTOg
Years ago, at the height of the mortgage refinance boom, I was working for a lender in Colorado. I complained to my boss that we had too much competition. He rebuked me and stated, "If you give the client service that is better than anyone else, you have no competition".
How do you do that? By asking a series of open ended, and closed ended questions to discover exactly what the client needs, and giving them a unique solution. When you do that, they will refuse to go to anyone else.
In summary, if you want to avoid being a commodity, be special, be unique, and give such great service that the client will refuse to go anywhere else.
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