So a prospect comes along to purchase some printed circuit boards. What's so different about you from your competitor? You both have an engineering department, a plating department, a drilling department and a test department. In your test department you both have AOI, flying probes and skilled operators.

Not only do you and your competitors have similar equipment, but you both claim high quality and your on-time deliveries are nearly identical. You both have process control and use similar--if not the same--suppliers. You have like capabilities and present yourself on similar-looking Web sites stating so. To top it all off, you both don't even build your own products; you build products to the customer's specifications. So what makes you different? Why would a prospect choose you over the next company?

Perhaps they first call the company they are most familiar with. They may also react to a recommendation from a peer. Maybe they've read an article about your company. Perhaps they have seen your ads and that is what elevated you onto their short list. For whatever reason, they have called you and now you have to stand above the rest. Of course, price is still a large slice of the decision pie, but it is not the only consideration.

Their first impression, as the old cliché goes, really does matter, but, ultimately, it's much deeper than that. The first impression only sets an initial expectation in the mind of the prospect. They may also draw a similar impression from your competitor and, if all things are generally equal, what can you do to differentiate your company? Assuming the prospect likes you, and that is a key part, you must bring some additional value to the transaction, ideally value that none of your competitors offer.

You have to change the playing field.

Take Sunstone Circuits®, for example. Sunstone has positioned itself as a PCB solutions provider with its own manufacturing plant located near Portland, Oregon. Through a smart Web-based strategy and a program called the Sunstone ECOsystem®, they have changed the playing field.

Sunstone builds boards from any design tool, but they also offer clients the company's free proprietary design software, PCB123®. It's not just a basic package; it's a real tool that provides customers real value. Next, Sunstone coupled PCB123 software, through strategic partnerships, with component suppliers like Digi-Key® and NXP®, who now provide their customers the ability to create a BOM as they design. And, not only is there a BOM, it is completed in real-time via the Internet so the designer can see that the components they are specifying are in stock. One other feature: Designers can monitor the cost of their designs while laying out their boards.

So, here's a PCB fabricator who has all of the trappings that you would expect a PCB fabricator to have--etchers, test, drilling, etc.-- just like all of the others. The difference is the way in which Sunstone helps customers become more efficient by offering their own design tools. The customers win and they win. You can't just throw out a gimmick like free steak knives and expect that to make you different enough to gain real customers. That sort of thing might generate an order or two, but it really doesn't build your business.