Stop Sounding Like Everyone Else
How to Escape the Commodity Trap
Still selling on features?
Still explaining specs while your competitor talks outcomes?
If your product sounds just like everyone else’s, it is a commodity and your margins will feel it. But it does not have to be that way. Today, we’re revisiting one of my early posts with a fresh take on how to stand out in a crowded market. In 2025, winning founders are not chasing “differentiation” with complex features they are doing it with relentless focus on one thing: the customer experience.
Commodities Compete on Price. Products Compete on Value.
You ca not change the fact that your industry may be flooded with lookalike offerings. From software tools to stainless steel bolts to fractional sales consultants it is all at risk of becoming a commodity. Especially in today’s world with AI agents and tools. But here is the shift. What if your product was not the thing you sell, but the way you sell it?
Take the insight from The E-Myth Revisited: your business is the product. Not just the thing you deliver, but the entire process around it. From the moment a customer visits your website to the moment they get a follow-up email, you are creating an experience. And that experience can be radically different from your competitors even if the underlying item is exactly the same.
If you’re in a commodity market, your margins are capped unless your customer service becomes the product.
Build the Product Around the Commodity
Let us be real. The object or service you are selling may not be groundbreaking. What can be groundbreaking is the ease, speed, and care you bring to the buying process.
Ask yourself:
Can you simplify the purchase or onboarding process?
Do customers know exactly what happens after they say “yes”?
Is your website or storefront frictionless?
Do you send proactive updates? Celebrate milestones?
Do you make renewals, reorders, or upgrades dead simple?
What about cancellations? Or pauses in service?
These elements are the new product. They’re the reasons customers choose you and stay with you.
In 2025, founders are doubling down on:
Personal onboarding calls for high-ticket services.
We can all post the automated e-mails a million miles away.
“Try before you buy” flows, even in B2B.
If your process is really great there is minimal risk in free trials.
Automated check-ins and status updates.
Some of these can be automated, but some need to be reminders for you to follow-up. See the first point above.
NPS feedback loops that trigger real follow-ups.
The best teams make their sales feel like success from Day 1. They make their customer service top notch, so the customer feels a little pain as possible through the process, no matter the product.
Deliver the Best Buying Experience in Your Category
If the last time you audited your buying experience was never, it is time. This quarter, review the full customer lifecycle:
Discovery: Where do customers first find you?
Conversion: How easy is it to get started?
Support: How fast do you respond? Are expectations clear?
Loyalty: Do you check in or just send invoices?
You do not need to do it all at once. But each improvement creates a little more daylight between you and your competitors. Start with item one and work through the list until you have them all covered. Take notes and build a process along the way. Remember the process is your business.
Most companies are trying to be better. The smart ones are trying to be easier.
Action Step
Block 30 minutes this week for a customer experience audit:
Visit your own website. Is it clear, fast, and helpful?
Send a “secret shopper” to buy from you and report back.
Review your last 5 deals. What made them close or stall?
Then, pick one friction point to fix this quarter. Add one upgrade that will surprise your best customers.
Remember:
Commoditization does not mean you have to compete on cost.
The way you sell is the product and it can be your advantage.
Set a quarterly review rhythm to keep improving the customer experience.
Additional Reading:
Differentiation Is a Customer Experience Strategy – Not Just a Marketing One – Harvard Business Review
How to Compete in a Saturated Market – Inc.
Why the Best Products in 2025 Are Built Around Buyer Ease – Fast Company
Are you looking to improve your sales process or hire your first sales professional?
Are you a technical expert ready to transition into sales and need guidance?
If so, we’re here to help! Reach out to us with your specific challenges, and we’ll schedule a time to discuss how we can develop a customized plan to meet your goals.
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