Although the average supermarket displays 40,000 different SKU’s, the average family meets 80 percent of its needs with 150. When you overload an electrical circuit, it blows out. Consumers overloaded by choices block them out and don’t allow new choices into their minds.

The multitude of choices can overload the human mind. In the last thirty years over-the-counter pain relievers soared from 17 to 141, running shoe styles increased from 5 to 285 and Colgate toothpaste varieties went from 2 to 17.

The customer has so many alternatives that you pay dearly for your mistakes. Once your competitors get your business, you don’t get it back very easily. Remember American Motors, Gainesburgers, VisiCalc and Woolworth’s?

How can Hudson Valley companies develop strategy to survive in such a choice-driven world? Devise a strategy that’s clearly stated and highly focused and communicate it constantly to customers. Emphasize one compelling point: why customers should buy from you rather than anyone else!

You must find a way to differentiate your product as the most attractive market alternative. It’s called positioning. Although Crest owned cavity prevention, taste, whitening ability and breath protection were open game. Toyota is Americas best selling car leaving open trucks, mini vans and SUV’s.

Each product category is like a ladder, and each brand name is a step on that ladder. To move up the ladder, you must either dislodge the one that’s above, or link your brand to another product category that’s higher up on the scale.

The mind has no room for what’s new and different, unless it’s connected to the old in some way. Early automakers called their product a horseless carriage. A more recent example would be a wireless telephone.

In the words of former Apple CEO John Sculley, “Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.” The more complicated a product or service, the less useful it is. Customers want to push a button and watch it work, not to read a 200-page owner’s manual.

Buying unfamiliar products makes people nervous. A driving factor in purchases is avoiding risk. One way to avoid risk is through using testimonials. Another is the bandwagon effect. Polls, such as the J.D. Powers surveys, help to create bandwagons.

People tend to trust a brand that has been around a long time. Cross trumpets its pens as “flawless classics, since 1846.” Minds don’t like change and welcome only new information that’s consistent with our prior knowledge or experience.

If you have a new product, success depends on feeding effectively off something with which consumers are already familiar. Minds can lose focus. People want consistency.

A brand needs to stand for something specific. Domino’s focuses on home delivery, Xerox does this with photocopiers, and FedEx does the same with overnight delivery.

The point to remember is simple: To capture mindshare and conquer competitors Hudson Valley organizations must create, in the minds of your customers and prospects, a strong and unique position for your product or service.

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