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Making a Difference: How Your Branding Strategy Depends on Your Differentiator

Guest blog by Sylvia Montgomery, CPSM of Hinge Marketing

We asked 1,500 buyers and sellers of professional services a lot of questions about what drives their transactions—or at least what they think drives their transactions. It turns out that sellers are often wrong about what motivates their potential buyers. Today we’re taking a look at what buyers really want—and what they specifically don’t want in a service provider.

First up, reputation: Buyers want a firm that will deliver what it promises.

Take A Look At What Buyers Really Want:

Fig. 1 What Tips the Scales for the Winner

hinge_fig1_tip_scales

Reputation takes the prize. A solid reputation trumps even existing relationships or cost. More often than not, buyers make their final decisions based on the sellers’ reputations.

And What They Don’t Want:

Fig. 2 What Buyers Want to Avoid 

hinge_fig2_buyers_avoid

Just shy of firms who break promises (which, really, just confirms the importance of reputation), are those who are “Just Like Everyone Else.” No one can be everything to everyone and buyers have an inherent sense of this. They want the quality that comes from specificity of your services.

This is why you need a powerful differentiator. Buyers want to know you’re bringing something unique to their equation, and that you can truly help solve their challenges. By building a brand strategy around your differentiator, you’re killing two birds with one stone: enhancing your visibility and your reputation.

What Makes You Different?

Everyone says they’re different. But if everyone’s saying it… well, you get the point. Take a look at your firm. What makes you stand out? Here are a few areas to explore when differentiating:

  • Industry specialization: do you cater to a particular client base? If so, you’re uniquely qualified to address the needs of comparable clients.
  • Client demographic: does your experience with a particular group give you a leg up on your competitors?
  • Specialized staff: Everyone claims they have the best people. Prove it. We know of a tech firm that only hires computer science PhDs. They may get outbid, but never outsmarted.
  • Specialized services: This can be a service that isn’t offered elsewhere, or something you specialize in, that your competition lumps it in with a dozen others.
  • Business model: Novel pricing structure? Unique means of offering services? Show these off!
  • Geographic focus: Global or hyperlocal? Play up your connections to the community you operate within.

Once you’ve identified your differentiator, build your brand strategy around it. Clients will understand your value. As a result, your visibility and reputation will grow. Two birds, one differentiator.

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Sylvia Montgomery, CPSM, Senior Partner at Hinge. Sylvia brings over 20 years of experience and perspective to the Hinge team. As Sr. Partner at Hinge, Sylvia provides strategic counsel to national clients and her on-the-ground strategy and marketing experiences provide a “realistic” dimension to the practical advice she shares. Sylvia frequently speaks on topics related to marketing for professional services; she is a co-author of Online Marketing for Professional Services. Sylvia has an MBA from University of Maryland, University College; an MFA from the George Washington University and a BA from Trinity University. You can find her on Twitter @BrandStrong.