Every business looks for an edge – an innovative product or a business model that gives them a significant advantage over the competition.

In many areas of commerce, the internet has been a great leveller. It’s easy for customers to compare prices and for brands to price match. Trying to compete on price alone doesn’t necessarily give you an advantage as there will always be something cheaper on offer at a click of a mouse.

Better client solutions is one option for gaining an advantage, as is lack of available substitutes if you can find a market niche. A Skoda and a Bentley are both cars but customers have very different expectations about what they are buying and what they will be paying defined by the nature and importance of the customer experience and the availability of substitutes.

Normally though, for most businesses, it comes down to customers presented with a choice of buying a very similar product from a very similar looking business, for a fairly comparable price. What tips the balance one way or the other? More and more it is customer experience – either direct experience from a previous purchase, or perceived from your own views or from the views of others, freely available through online reviews.

One of the most defining, and surprising, aspects of the development of the choice economy we now operate in, is that the lowest price doesn’t always win the customer. Customers are increasingly looking for best value and how easy it is to find the best looking option. Time and resources are in short supply. A guarantee of a painless experience and better outcomes often have a greater impact than saving a few pounds.

Customers don’t have the time or patience to deal with poor experiences. Instead they are seeking partners who can give them the confidence that they understand their priorities and the experience of working together will be harmonious, productive and efficient.

A greater focus on the customer experience has many advantages in terms of performance as it shifts planning from an internal perspective of costs to an external perspective of customer value. It means that cost isn’t the only consideration for success, opening new opportunities to drive profitability through income generation not just trying to do more for less. Do more for more is more sustainable and scalable for long term success.