Rainmakers
Nine Ways to Dramatically Differentiate Yourself from the Competition
By Dr. Clifford Ferguson
Know more about your client than anyone else
Learn more about their business, organisation, and issues than any of your competitors. I call this their“ agenda” of critical priorities, needs, and goals. When you do, you will no longer be a commodity. This is why most people rarely fire their personal physician or personal accountant- they know us, our history, what’ s important to us, and what we need. They are worth more to us than the next doctor or accountant off the street, who may have a fancy degree but zero understanding of who we are.
Be Fresh
I don’ t know about you, but I am oh-sotired of clichés:“ You need to put on your own oxygen mask before you can help others”; or,“ The Chinese word for crisis combines the characters for opportunity and danger( actually that’ s not even true)”; or, questions like“ What keeps you up at night?” and“ What would it take for us to win your business?” These are uninspiring expressions- hearing them is like listening to one of those 1970s FM radio hits for the 10,000th time.
Be fresh. Be original. Be provocative. Take your experiences, pick a topic of interest to your clients, and boil your ideas down to four or five incisive points to share with them. Go against the grain: Is there a so-called“ best practice” or technology that’ s all the rage? Tell your clients why it may not last or be right for them. Sound fresh, not bland and boring.
Be seen as renown and recognized
Just the perception that you are wellknown and a leader in your speciality will differentiate you. So you need to present yourself and your experiences in the best possible light. Tread carefully here, though. Many people try to project their expertise by simply screaming louder and, also, exaggerating. Today, everyone seems to be a bestselling author, a world-renowned authority, and so on. The Internet is like a crowded restaurant, however: As it starts to fill up, it gets harder to be heard. So everyone starts talking louder. But that makes it even more difficult to hear, leading to a continuing escalation of the volume until diners are literally shouting, unsuccessfully, to be heard.
Build your renown step by step. Develop strong points of view about the three to five most important challenges your clients face in your area of expertise. Publish and get
You will stand out from the crowd if you can be seen as someone who has the patience, discipline, and practical know-how to show a client how to take a concept they already have- but which hasn’ t gotten off the ground- and make it a reality. your ideas out in front of clients through articles, blogs, LinkedIn posts, and short white papers that you share. The key thing is consistency: Building your renown is like a flywheel that you have to keep turning. Over time, if you keep up your daily disciplines, it gains more and more momentum and is harder to stop.
Have a Unique Relationship Process
One way of differentiating yourself is through the actual process you use to interact with your clients and manage your relationship with them. This contributes to a sense on the client’ s part that“ working with them is different.” This can start with the business development process, by the way, and how you handle it- the client doesn’ t have to wait until they’ ve hired you to experience the difference. You can engineer, standardize, and carefully manage many different aspects of your client interactions- for example:
Telling versus asking: The way you balance advocacy and inquiry in your conversations, and the kinds of careful, thought-provoking questions you ask.
Speed of response: How quickly do you get back to your client with things you’ ve promised? How quickly do you answer your emails and phone calls( even if to say you’ re tied up with a client but will thoughtfully respond the next morning)?
Collaboration: How you involve them in the upfront problem-solving and solution development around your products and services.
Education: How you create opportunities to transfer your capabilities to the client’ s own people.
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