Editor’s note: Paul Kirch is CEO of ActusMR Inc., a Lewisville, Texas, business and sales consulting agency. Kirch can be reached at 214-295-6111 or at pkirch@actusmr.com.
When you think about your company’s positioning, the term that most likely comes to mind is differentiation. Typically, how you differentiate becomes a marketing conversation. It is true that understanding your points of differentiation can help with your overall marketing message but in reality, I believe it is a tool more suitable for your sales efforts. Assuming you have a dedicated sales team, how they can stand out in the eyes of prospects and clients matters as much as anything else they have for talking points. Unfortunately, many firms in the research space have struggled to truly stand out as unique. We’ve become a me-too marketing industry in so many ways. That philosophy has worked to help many research firms to grow and create sustainable businesses but the world is changing and customer loyalty isn’t what it once was. So if you’ve failed at differentiation or have never invested in exercises to define how you stand out, the time is right to work on it.
Differentiation can come from various areas, such as the services a firm offers, how they are executed, the staff involved and more. Ultimately, it’s all of these elements together that create value in the eyes your customers. Are they unique to your firm only? Are they something you do better than others? Do you have your own way of presenting your services? Differentiation can combine all of these items.
A phrase popular among many successful sales professionals is, “Find a client’s pain point and provide a solution.” Though overused, it accurately describes something every company should think about when discussing differentiation. Can your firm provide solutions for client issues in a way that others can’t? Or, what’s the unique value you provide that matters to your clients?
Start with qualitative exercises
So where do you begin? When helping companies define their true differentiation or distinct value to the market, we often start with qualitative exercises to identify the words, phrases and items that help a firm stand out. Of course, there are techniques or services that you share with your competitors but if that’s all you have, then you most likely compete heavily on price when it comes to new relationships. How many times have you been asked by a new prospect, “What makes you different?” Are you prepared to answer?
It’s time to take a serious step toward creating real value in the eyes of your clients and prospects. If you have staff servicing clients, directly or indirectly, why not start with them? By involving your staff, you create a sense of ownership by allowing them to be a part of creating your new message. What words do they use to describe your company? What descriptive phrases? How do they really feel about your offering? By analyzing this information alone, you can identify areas you’ve never considered. Then, take that a step further by bringing everyone together for a brainstorming session. Depending on the size of your firm, you may want to look at this data by department before pulling it all together.
Though this is just one method, it is crucial to identifying differentiation and creating powerful sales messaging. After all, the client-servicing professionals all share common experiences – problem-solving, answering questions, overcoming objections and even closing sales. What problems have they addressed? What creative solutions have they come up with to help a customer solve their problems? These can be great starting points to creating a more powerful message.
Marketing material
Today, most firms have a Web site, they probably have brochures and they might even have an advertising campaign. How often is the message, from any of those areas, making an impact? Is your phone ringing off the hook with prospects responding to your information? In most cases, marketing material is flowery, we-we talk. Usually the focus is on exaggerated strengths, written from a biased viewpoint. Far too often, these messages do not create value in the eyes of your potential buyers.
Is marketing integral to your business? Of course it is - or at least it should be. However, your marketing efforts can be greatly enhanced if you’re also armed with powerful sales messaging and points of differentiation. Also, remember that less is more. Often we want to share every piece of information we can pull together. Unfortunately, the more words we use, the less impact we make. If you want to make a bigger impact, try the following:
- Use bulleted lists. Our eyes are drawn to short, bulleted lists.
- Avoid wordy paragraphs. Keep it brief and simple.
- Highlight or bold key phrases or words.
- Introduce each section with a bolded or descriptive sentence. If you have a paragraph of information, give them a preview.
- Focus on your unique value. How are you different or better in a way that matters to your buyers?
- Be memorable. Focus on a message that stands out as beneficial to your customers.
- Put yourself in their shoes. Would your message resonate if you were a buyer? Be objective and honest. Ask your team to review it as well.
Now take that information and help arm your sales team to address objections before they arise. Give them the tools to stand out. Help them be memorable and you’ll create loyalty and keep customers coming back for more, assuming they find the message beneficial.
Eliminate the competition
If you spend the time to lay the foundation, you can create a model that will eliminate the competition. A key element to brand building is to create a consistent message throughout an organization. If your message is different than what your sales team leverages and that’s different than what your project staff conveys, you’re constantly watering down your brand value. By bringing your staff into the process and allowing them to help shape the message and identify the elements that create value, they’ll be more likely to adopt the end result. This just might produce more loyal employees and a culture where they feel respected. In addition, you just might stand out as being different and more valuable to your customers.