Everyone Is Vying For The Same Client Dollars, Whether Your Clients Are Consumers, Other Small Businesses, Major Corporations, Or Federal Agencies. Your Target Clients Are Overwhelmed With Too Much Information And Too Many Choices. The Bottom Line? You Still Need To Stand Out From The Crowd.Coined By Jack Trout, The Father Of Positioning Products And Ideas In The Minds Of Consumers, This Notion Is Particularly Relevant For Professional Service Firms. The Problem Is That Your Clients Have A Choiceand They Need Your Help To Understand Why To Choose Your Firm Over Others Offering Similar Services.And Just Because You Currently Have A Client, Doesnt Mean Theyll Stay. Theres A Big Difference Between Their Satisfaction And Commitment. Did You Know That More Than 40 Of Customers Who Claimed To Be Satisfied Switched To A New Service Provider?1Thinking Strategically About How To Move Your Clients From Satisfied To Committed Is Not Discretionary. Differentiation Is One Of The Most Important Strategic And Tactical Activities In Which A Professional Service Firm Must Engage.For Professional Service Firms, This Is Very Tricky. It Involves Articulating The Concrete Value Of Something That, In Your Clients Minds, Is Tough To Quantify. Not Only Do You Have To Catch And Hold Their Attention In The First Place, You Must Demonstrate The Bottom-line Impact Your Services Make In Their Lives. Differentiation Will Do That For You.What Not To DoBefore We Look At Differentiation Strategies That Work, Here Are Some To Avoid:Banking On Creativity. Vague, Artistic Marketing Messages Are A Waste Of Your Target Audiences Time. When It Comes To Building Trust And Confidence In Your Firm As The Best Solution To Their Problem, Prospects Want Concrete, Specific, Direct Information. Dont Make Them Work Too Hard To Understand Your Message.Theres A Lot Of Fuzzy, Ineffectual Marketing Going On Out There Under The Guise Of Being Creative. Dont Be Seduced By The Poetic Or Beautiful. Do Keep Your Eye On Clearly Sharing Information Without Burying It Underneath Creativity.Pricing Yourself Into Extinction. Dont Become A Commodity By Lowering Your Price To Be Different. When Clients Choose Your Firm Over Others Because Of Price, Your Value Fades And Youre No Longer Unique.The One Way To Differentiate Yourself Using Price? By Being The Most Expensive! Price Becomes An Inherent Benefit By Portraying Prestige And Quality. This Is Easily True Of Products (think Rolex, Louis Vitton) And Is Equally True For Professional Services (think High-end, Private Medical Practices; Financial Advisors Who Work Only With Family Offices Of The Wealthy).Doing It All. Trying To Be All Things To All People (our Firm Offers A Wide Range Of Practices) Is The Worst Way To Be Unique. Not Only Do You Overwhelm Prospects With Choices, You Make It Easy For Your Competitors To Offer The Same.The Internet Makes It Particularly Easy For Your Competition To Match What You Offer Its Easy To Comparison Shop Online. So Then It Comes Down To Whos Got The Better Pricea Losing Proposition For Everyone Involved Including The Customer. Eventually, Youll No Longer Be Able To Afford To Serve Them, Or Will Resent Having To Give Away Your Services.Choosing To Be Specific And Narrow Your Offer Takes Courage, Yet Its How To Stand Out In Your Customers Minds, And It Lets You Charge What Your Worth.So How Do You Effectively Differentiate Your Professional Services? For Approaches That Really Work, Keep ReadingTaking A Page From Jack Trouts Book, Differentiate Or Die (John Wiley Sons, 2000), Heres How To Stand Out From Your Competition:1. Be First. A Good Strategy, If Youve Got A Really Good Idea. If Youre There First, Anyone Copying You Later Will Just Reinforce Your Value. Takes A Lot Of Stamina To Pull Off And Sustain.2. Own An Attribute. Things Like Speed (HR Blocks Fast Refund) And The Experience (a Spa Environment In A Cosmetic Dental Practice) Are Attributes. The Key Is To Keep It Simple And Focus On One Or Two Words That Describe Your Differentiating Attribute. If Someone Else In Your Niche Owns It Already, Its Not Yours To Claim.3. Lead. If You Really Are 1, Proclaim It! Being Number One Can Take Many Formsyou Can Lead On Sales (1 On Your Local Business Journals List Of Top Firms), You Can Lead Through Technology (the Fastest Digital Printer In Town), And You Can Lead Through Performance (ranked 1 By Satisfied Customers For Five Straight Years).4. Use Heritage. Having A Long History Makes People Feel Secure. If Your Firm Has Been In Business For 10 Years, Celebrate It! Likewise, Locational Heritage Can Make You Stand Out. Think Perfume And Wine From France. Government Contracting Expertise From Washington, DC. Safari Travel Planning From A Long-time Resident Of Africa.5. Pick A Specialty. A Natural For Professional Service Firms, This Is All About Being An Expert. A Simple Example Is My Company, TurningPointe Marketing. We Help Professional Service Firms (not Retailers, Not Consumer Products Companies, Not The Auto Industry) Attract More Clients. A Great Way To Differentiate, Unless There Are A Lot Of Others Pitching The Same Specialty.6. Be Preferred. Do Moms Prefer Your Daycare Services Over Others? Does The Federal Government Prefer To Work With You Because You Offer A Discount? Does Your Local City Magazine Rank You As A Preferred Pediatrician? Third-party Endorsements Are Worth Their Weight In Gold If You Can Get Them, Theyre A Great Way To Stand Apart.7. Use A Different Approach. Do You Make House Calls? Does Your Firm Offer Untraditional Hours Of Service? Think About What Your Ideal Client Really Needs That Others Arent Offering, Then Do It.8. Be The Latest. Technology Companies Have This Nailed Every Year A Faster Chip Or Bigger System Replaces Last Years Model. Can Your Salon Offer The Newest Advances In Skincare? What About The Latest Approach To Data Security? Whatever It Is, Make Sure It Solves A Real Problem, Doesnt Mess With Tradition, And Truly Is A Better Solution.9. Be Hot! If You Just Got A Great Review, An Industry Award, Or Your Story Covered In The Press, Leverage It. This Also Works If Youre Solving A Problem Or Aligned With A Good Cause. The Key Is To Be Truthful And To Spread The Word Quickly.How Do You Know Which Strategy To Go With? Look At The Market Context Of The Moment. If Other Firms Own A Certain Differentiator Already, Dont Go There. Pick Something Else. Then Offer Your Proof And Communicate It Broadly Both On- And Offline. Its About Being Logical First, Creative Second. Do This Consistently, And Youll Clearly Stand Out In The Crowd.Helping Professional Service Firms Attract More Clients, Stabilize Their Business And Take Their Practice To The Next Level.1 Trout, J. (2000). Differentiate Or Die. New York: John Wiley Sons.We Encourage Sharing And Publication Of Your Monthly TurningPointe In Whole Or In Part If Copyright And Attribution, Including Live Web Site Link And Email Link, Are Always Included. Please Let Us Know Where And When It Will Appear. Thank You!
