It may feel instinctual, when someone asks you how you are different than your competition, you focus on the things you do “better” than them.

If someone asks why they should do business with you as opposed to the firm across the street – you begin to give them the “betters.” You may not say it by using the word better, but it sounds like you will have better communication, better services, better products, better affiliates that you work with, etc. The problem with inferring “better” is that the consumer doesn’t believe it. We don’t believe that something will actually be better – to us, it’s just fluff.

So what should you do?

What we need to be is different. If we can, we need to share what is truly unique about what we do – not compare ourselves to others. So, what is unique about you? One unique thing about your firm is the people inside. The founder, lead advisor, portfolio manager, and staff make the company truly unique. And, 80% of the reason someone chooses your firm is because of you – not your products. How your team works together to take care of each of your clients – hearing about that over a list of “betters” is where you should focus.

Are you talking about what’s most unique about your firm?