Spotify has just started playing Dexy's Midnight Runners as I type this. Not that I'm a huge fan, but some music just lifts your spirits :)

This week I've been thinking about what make us – all of us – different from our competitors.

Whenever you read something about USPs or differentiation, the focus is almost always on the end result. Nine times out of ten you'll hear about Dominos Pizza and how they offered delivery within 30 minutes or your money back. Apparently back in 1523 when they started up, no one else was offering that.

But today, things are different. Everyone offers fast delivery Pizza. More importantly, as a service provider, chances are that most people in your field promise something very similar to you.

Do you claim to improve your client's leadership, reduce their costs, get them more clients, give them more confidence?

What do your competitors claim? My guess is something pretty similar.

It's almost impossible to differentiate based on what you claim you can do in a service business these days. It's so easy for competitors to make the same claims.

What you can differentiate on is how you prove that claim. How you give your potential clients confidence that they'll actually get what you say they'll get.

You can prove your claims through testimonials and case studies.

You can prove your claims through your experience and background.

You can prove your claims through giving value in advance – proving you can improve things for them by actually improving things for them.

One underused approach is to use a unique method or approach to prove your claims.

It's a bit like the way the ads for L'Oréal and other cosmetics often go heavy on the “science” behind the product. They know you've been promised younger looking skin or whatever claim they're making a thousand times before. Why should you believe them this time? It's because of this amazing new ingredient only recently uncovered by science ;)

In most of our businesses clients have been promised better leadership, reduced costs, more clients, more confidence many, many times before. Why should they believe you when you say you can really deliver it?

Probably the previous times they heard plenty of testimonials and track records too.

But if you can show that you genuinely do things a different way that's more likely to lead to results, that can give them confidence.

If they can see that your way is different and makes sense, then it's something for them to hang their hopes on to. 

So, what is your “different way”? Do you genuinely do things differently to your competitors?

Not just a weak “we're better” or “we're easier to work with” or “we really listen”. Your competitors say those things too.

What can you say about the way you do things that your competitors can't or don't say?

That can help you stand out in a tough marketplace.