I felt this cartoon by astute Hugh Macleod accurately illustrated some of the conversations I had yesterday at a networking event. As a marketer, I love to ask business people about their “differentiators” – why one should choose them over other options.
The following responses are awful and should never be used by anyone, anywhere, ever again.
1. “Quality!” Once upon a time, this was a descriptive, differentiating term, which contrasted your company from others’. Now, this is a noun. It’s like saying, “our product has form!” or “Our service is available!” It just doesn’t mean anything. For goodness’ sake, get creative and say something no one else can say.
2. “Service!” I assure you, your company is not differentiated by “service.” Pretty much everyone has service of some kind, including the giant ISP out of Atlanta which once had the nerve to announce that I was going to be on hold for “Fifty. Four. Minutes.” in that chipper lady-robot voice.
2. a. Like quality, “service” is a dead word at best. (At worst, it’s been reinterpreted to immediately translate inside my head to “Customer No-Service,” a term I first heard Consumer Advocate Clark Howard use.) When you say you stand out because of service (which you ideally shouldn’t), tell us exactly what you mean. Use words that aren’t dead, like care, concern, speedy, helpful. Use phrases like “answer before the third ring” and “return your calls within four hours” and “promise to know the answer or find it out for you.”
2.b. Consider that we might have been promised service by others and feel a bit skeptical. I can’t believe someone could say “the thing that makes us different is service” and then stare at me like it was the most obvious thing in the world. Like I should say, “Oh! Well, in that case…” and whip out my check book. Instead, how about describing the experience I could expect to have?
2.c. Differentiation is a moving target. You will probably need to update what you’re saying, since others will catch on. At least two bright people I met yesterday implied they had good service by saying “you’re an individual and not just a number.” That’s better but still not good, since what does that really mean? Just because it’s clever(er) doesn’t mean it’s meaningful.
And finally, the all-time worst differentiator of all is:
3. Duh? Why would someone send a rep (or themselves) to a trade show and networking event, presumably in the hopes of attracting new prospects, and not be able to talk persuasively about themselves? If you cannot express what your strengths and differences are, you may as well not have any.
Practice aloud this very second: what makes you better at what you do than anyone else?
