Leveraging Perspective to Identify Unique Differentiators

Using Unique Differentiators to Win Interviews

When competing for projects, securing second place offers little consolation. Given the significant investment and revenue implications tied to project competitions, consulting firms should leverage every advantage to ensure success.

Project interviews and proposal selection processes can be extremely competitive and often be decided by the slimmest of margins. While many firms point to core values such as quality of work, client service, and extensive experience to distinguish themselves; these are not necessarily true differentiators from the client's perspective.

My realization of this point occurred when I was invited to join a client's selection committee. To my surprise, every competitor claimed similar differentiators: quality, service, and experience. Sadly, these were also the same differentiators I had often used in my interviews. From the client's perspective, the presentations were indistinguishable.

After this experience, it became apparent that "unique differentiators" were necessary to showcase exclusive qualities from the client's point-of-view. While this can be a challenging exercise; the following are a few tips that can help.

1. Live in the client's perspective. In David Fields' book The Irresistible Consultant's Guide to Winning Clients, the author suggests that clients (and projects) are won based upon trust, more so than basic differentiators. While most consultants consider themselves trustworthy; it is really about how well they can demonstrate that trust to the client.

2. Reach out to the selection committee. If allowed, ask each member their opinion of the crucial elements for a successful project. Understanding and satisfying each stakeholders' objectives and goals is vital, because each vote counts.

3. Conduct post-project reviews. To prepare for future competitions conduct client surveys at the end of each project to learn what your firm did well, especially compared to your industry counterparts. This will provide a reasonable comparison from the client's point of view.

4. Learn what not to do. Routinely ask existing or potential clients to share their typical pain points and frustrations with consultants. Project issues such as poor communication, inexperienced leadership, or inadequate documentation can have an underestimated impact on the client. Demonstrating an approach to make the client's job, and life, easier can set you apart relative to other firms.

Relying solely on a company's core values as industry differentiators may not yield optimal results, as many consultants share the same general values. Utilizing creative approaches to find differentiators that uniquely distinguish your firm from the client's perspective is a task that will yield tremendous results.