Better to be different — Kelford Labs Daily

Have you ever struggled to describe what sets your business apart? What makes you different from your competitors or peers?

Have you ever found it difficult to answer, “Why should I work with you?”

I’m a marketing consultant. And when people ask me what I do, I could just say that.

I could say, “I run a marketing firm,” or, “I’m in marketing.”

And sometimes I do say that, but only when I want the conversation to end. Because those are dead-end answers. There’s no natural follow-up, no obvious question to ask next.

So I wonder how you’re describing what you do. And if you’re accidentally shutting down the conversation by being too literal, too direct, and too similar to others.

When someone asks you what you do, are you just telling them the industry you’re in? Or the type of company you run?

Because here’s the thing:

When I want the conversation to continue, perhaps even to move it into a sales context, I would never just say “I’m in marketing.”

I’d say, “I show experts the way to always knowing what to say.”

Why? Because it’s more than true, it’s different. It’s more than what I do, it’s why I do it, too.

So tell me this:

Are you able to articulate what you do and why you do it in a single sentence or phrase? Or are you still telling people your industry, your category, your jargon?

If we want our messages to go farther, we have to focus further. We have to get ridiculously clear about the value we offer and what sets it apart.

Otherwise, we’ll never be found by the people who need us most.

They’ll just bounce off our boring expressions or vague categorizations.

Better to be interesting, better to be captivating.

Better to be different.

Kelford Inc. shows experts the way to always knowing what to say.