Guess What! You are Unique! But Do Others Know Why You’re Different?
How do you stand-out in a crowded field of competitors?
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More than one consultant (freelancer) has looked at me with puzzlement when I ask them about their point of view. Occasionally I’ll hear “My value proposition is ___________.” or “I believe the first thing we need to do is ___________.”
I always listen closely and paraphrase what I heard. I then re-asked my question: “Help me understand your viewpoint. What is your differentiator? What makes you unique? What is your secret sauce?”
Sometimes they continue looking at me in puzzlement but many times I hear “I’m similar to ___________ .” or “I’m not unique. My point of view isn’t different than anyone else.”
Guess what? You are unique! You are different!
Everyone is unique and every consultant (freelancer) has a point of view. Your point of view your high level vision as to how you help your clients achieve what they want to achieve.
Sometimes defining your how requires you to dig deep within you and think about it. If you have defined what you want to be known for and identified your ideal client characteristics and behaviors (your criteria), as the saying goes, you are more than half way home.
To better explain a point of view, let’s look at an example.
Consider 300 acres of land are up for sale but there is an open space environmental requirement. A builder is interested in acquiring the land and discusses the environmental requirement with two environmental consultants. Both consultants have the same focus and their ideal client criteria is similar but they each have different Point of View (POV) as to how to meet the environmental requirement.
Each consultant’s POV is based on their different educational and life experiences. Neither POV is wrong. As a matter of fact, both are right. Both POV’s will help the builder meet the environmental requirements. Simply, the builder will be successful hiring either of the consultants.
However, each consultant takes the builder on a different journey. Each consultant has a different POV. The builder needs to decide which…
