How to uncover what makes you unique
One of my favorite things to do with new clients is to help them uncover their unique differentiators so I can build them a strategy with messaging that powerfully resonates with their ideal client. Sometimes, however, when I try to peel back their unique approaches, they scoff at my uncovering because they don’t believe it’s a unique quality or characteristic. Part of what I do when I’m working on uncovering a client’s magic is helping them see their uniqueness as well. Once they see it, then they can choose to own it. But often, as business owners, we are so in the soup we can’t see our value or what makes us unique in what we do. Especially when we’ve been doing a specific “thing” for so long, we can’t embrace that what we’re doing is highly unique in how we do it.
If you have a room of ten real estate agents who claim to offer the same basic services, I guarantee I can find each one’s unique differentiators. How I do this is that I look beyond the typical services and outcomes they deliver and focus on what they bring (or could bring) to the party—that unique experience that if they weren’t there would also not be there.
I usually find it hidden inside their personality, biases, attitudes, experience, desire and what they value. Yes, that’s a lot to uncover. But since those things are often undisclosed when we market what we do, we often commoditize ourselves into a bucket with everyone else, so it has to be done to create unique messaging and attract the best fit clients.
You also may be delivering a service that you’re not charging for that you COULD charge for. If you identified the unique value of a current service you’re giving away for free, you would realize that you could package it differently and convert it into a revenue- and business-driving product. Help your audience see that they are getting more from you than your competitors and watch the commoditization of your business fall away.
It all lies within the messaging and packaging of what you do.
Every business or expert does have unique approaches, qualities and value to offer that they can charge for, among other messaging and strategies that they can implement with a great deal of success. It’s my job to unlock it and bring it to the forefront.
Commoditization is something you can control by being a personality brand, showcasing your 1000% and how committed you are to your clients and customers. You will also always be put—initially—in a bucket context because peoples’ brains are wired to do so. Just like we determine if a person is safe or not upon initial contact. Remember the tiger in the bushes? That’s how the brain works. But don’t let that dissuade how you build and express your brand. Build on it by being 1000% you.
Have you ever hired a life coach who didn’t coach you? Have you ever gone to see a massage therapist who didn’t provide you a massage? Have you ever engaged a graphic designer who did not deliver you a graphic design? These are three examples of clients who I’ve helped get out of a bucket and present their value in such a distinct way there was no comparison to perceived competitors. And the biggest challenge was getting them to believe it.
Your label is not a security blanket
Often we use our business bucket (“I’m a CPA, I’m a keynote speaker, I’m a consultant,” etc.) to communicate what we do when asked that classic networking question. It’s like a giant neon label on our foreheads shouting, “CPA!!!” “SPEAKER!!!!” and so on. Although we may be helping the uninformed place us in a specific context so they can take the next step to run their internal checklist, “Do I need a CPA? A speaker?” we are doing ourselves a disservice because we’re not truly connecting at the level we need to with those who engage our brands.
Connection is all about being 1000% you and uncovering what makes you unique and being able to convey that on a human-to-human level. Doing so will inspire your prospect/audience to see you in a different context and they’ll pay more attention and lean in if it interests them. That’s attraction-based marketing and relationship-building communication.
Take the time to uncover what makes you unique. Watch the video below where I give an example of this is greater detail.
