This is because the consumer may affect the time of demand, the nature of service, and quality of the service since the consumer is highly involved in the process. Managers who use overall cost leadership strive to keep all costs low, which allows them to keep the prices of the products low. Businesses that use differentiation produce products and services that are unique within the industry. Differentiation may be achieved by making the intangible tangible, customizing the standard product, reducing any perceived risk, giving attention to personnel training, and controlling quality. Careful consumer selection, such as selecting a particular buyer group, selecting a segment of the market, or selecting a geographic market are different strategies of creating market focus.
Differentiation seems to be very popular among many businesses.
Those businesses that do use differentiation usually do so through advertising and promotions, specialized design, a widely recognized brand, leading-edge technology, and offering reliable service. The use of differentiation may yield a larger profit margin then using any other competitive strategy. This is because consumers who are loyal tend to spend more money as long as they believe that the product is superior. Strategies a business may use to ensure that the products are superior than those offered by the competition include making intangible tangibles, reducing perceived risk, customizing standard products, giving attention to personnel training, and having good quality control. Company Analysis One company that is well known for using the overall cost leadership competitive service strategy is Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. .