Last Sunday I said that one of the best ways to differentiate yourself in the eyes of a potential client is to have a unique method or approach you use to deliver your service to them. 

Often the key is to articulate what you already do in a way that makes that difference clear.

Here are 10 questions you can ask yourself to help surface what your real difference is. You won't be able to answer all 10 easily, but working through them will generate some great ideas for points of difference which you can then refine.

1. What are the common mistakes and misconceptions your clients (or a subset of them) often have about their business in your area?
2. Where do you disagree with accepted wisdom in your field and/or your competitors?
3. What are your “go to” methods and approaches that you use regularly that you have honed and improved over the years?
4. What are the most overused phrases, angles and selling points in your industry right now that you can take the opposite view on?
5. What do you do that clients are the most surprised by or didn't think would work?
6. What's your best-kept secret of what you do to get results for clients?
7. What are the biggest “lightbulb moments” you've had yourself that have led to changing how you do business or what you advise your clients?
8. If you had to educate your clients about just one thing that would make a huge difference to their business, what would it be?
9. Are there any big new trends in your field  or learnings from other industries that you've adopted that haven't yet or are only just beginning to affect your clients more generally?
10. Do you use any new scientific or field-based research findings in your work?

The answers to these questions will help you understand how the way you work is different to your competitors and can be used as a strong point of difference. Obviously, you need to focus these questions on areas where you work that are of high value to your clients: no point in being different in ways that aren't valuable to your clients!

Have fun with this :)