Following on from last week’s post Differentiators that don’t work I wanted to talk today about those that do. You need to distinguish yourself by focusing on how you will provide benefits and insights for clients.
Be an expert. Don’t be seen as a jack of all trades, if you are good at something or strong in a particular area, make sure you are talking about this and positioning yourself as an expert and the person of choice to speak to. You may not get as many enquiries but the ones that you do get should be better qualified.
Keep it simple. Don’t give your prospect every single element of your service or solution at the outset. Keep it simple and provide information in manageable chunks. Ask yourself if the prospect needs to know something or if you want to tell them. There’s a difference! Educate clients at their speed, not yours.
A good guarantee. Give clients confidence in choosing you by giving them a real guarantee – not one that’s overloaded with get-out clauses but just a good, straight-forward guarantee.
Give it away for free. Is there something that you have or can offer that will allow your clients to sample your goods or services without having to put their hand in their wallet first? Can you provide something of value to them that is not going to break the bank? What about events, can you put on a taster seminar for example?
Be realistic. Don’t overplay the benefits of your product or service. You cannot make a size 20 lady fit into size 10 clothes in a week. Be realistic in your claims and you will not have disappointed clients.
Tell others to talk about you. Collecting testimonials can help you to stand apart from your competitors. Not only do testimonials illustrate your services and capabilities, they also can add credibility to your offer, especially if its from a well known and respected source.
Be innovative. What have you done or what can you / have you offered that has changed the way your sector works? Being first at something positions you as an expert and an innovator, people want to be part of what you’re doing. Being first will help you to attract forward-thinking clients and you will set the agenda for your competitors to follow.
Lose the herd mentality. Don’t simply jump on the bandwagon because all your competitors are excited about something new. Take time to research and form an opinion based on the needs of your clients, not because you have to be seen to embrace the latest gimmick.
