If your market is saturated, it might be difficult to find a competitive advantage over others. Your products are likely identical, and your prices very much the same. Production is as optimized as it can be, and there are few to no differences between your and your competitions’ company structure.
What you need is a comparative advantage – something your customers will see not when they look at your offering in isolation, but something recognized when they compare you to others in the market.
The easiest route to take is insurance. The extended service plans on cars or computers typically set one Chevy dealership apart from another or differentiate the offerings of Best Buy and Office Depot. Unfortunately, many people forgo the added expense of the service plan because they find it unnecessary or because they don’t trust “lifetime” really means for life.
Instead, focus on service. Larger companies tend to take on the image of franchises – different managers run their stores differently and one employee might provide a higher level of customer service than another. Focus on standardizing the experience your customers receive and ensure your employees are living the brand image. Walmart, for example, does this fairly well. While not the ideal example of a well-manicured brand, their service and overall experience is the same whether I visit a store in Oregon or on the East Coast.
What stores/restaurants/dealerships have you visited that have had inconsistent levels of service and differing customer experience qualities?