Differentiation for Services Coy's

My twin and I are different...

So we all know we need to have a USP (unique selling proposition)  - Elevator Pitch. But what about when you are in the services business ? ...”we are the best” or a derivative of it “we are the leaders” fails miserably on the unique test.

Unfortunately unless the output of your service is significant - it is useless at differentiating you, in fact doing a great job is what I call a hygiene factor - something any decent professional will give.

Very seldom, if at all, it is the firm that differentiates the service provider. There is always someone else that has the “expert team” or “boutique personal service”. We need to hunt further than that.

Think about how you choose your last: Dentist, lawyer, architectural designer or business adviser?

Differentiating in the services game is hard, as the string of poor web sites  are testimony too. My guess it came down to one of these:

• Referral from a trusted source - the great thing here is price is often eliminated with a great referral. So make sure all your endorsements are succinct and powerful and not hidden away,
• They stood out from the pack in some way. This could be from:
  • Making a stand eg Being thought leaders or just different
  • You just liked them, because they are "like you".

Notice I am not talking about a logo or fancy tag line. It is more about your approach, attitude or way you are. Once you are conscious of what your customers like, give them more of it. Make sure that this “way” is consistent across your entire organisation. Have you ever fired someone because they did not adhere to your company values - brand attitude?

It still blows me away when I see people referring to their craft rather than a measure of success from the client’s perspective. Here is classic from a web site “Accounting is our passion,” If accounting is your passion, enjoy yourself. But what can you do for me?

For something completely different check out this law firm www.valoremlaw.com/ (see the tease below)

They are making a stand:  “the billable hour is dead”

Check your web site out,  how much of relevance do you offer your clients?

Some more ideas on standing out from the crowd:

• Share customer stories, highlighting what your customers got beyond your basic service
• Make sure all your headline stories on your promotional material talk the language of your customers need and success - not yours
• On referrals, make sure you make it easy for people to refer you:

• Be clear on what you do and don’t do. give them a simple sound bite to pass on... Particularly if there is some overlap of your services with them.
• Be clear on what market segment you are after.
• Make sure you have a LinkedIn profile and its up to date (google is great at finding you here)
• Reciprocate - people you give referrals, will give you ones in retutn
• Your existing and past customers will give you the best referrals, they know you. Always ask for an endorsement and highlight rather than hide them on your web site. Third party endorsements have an 80% probability of closing a sale.
• Google yourself and see what people see of you. Do it on an I-pad and see how your web site looks - influencer's are generally busy people and they steal time by using these portable devices

More GMC articles on Networking or Pitching , or if you want more information specific to  selling professional services I found a great resource here  http://www.marcusletter.com/Differentiation.htm