Why so many businesses sound alike
Read the home pages of five competitors in almost any market and the same words appear: quality, experience, service, trusted, professional. It is understandable. Those are the qualities owners are proudest of. The problem is that every competitor claims them, so they cancel out. A buyer reading five identical claims falls back on price, distance or whoever replies first.
Michael Porter’s argument in What Is Strategy? was that competitive strategy is about being different. For a business presenting itself to buyers, that means saying something specific that competitors cannot say as truthfully.
Where a real difference comes from
A useful difference has three qualities. Clients value it, competitors cannot easily claim it and the business can prove it. It usually comes from one of four places:
- A specialism. A type of work the business does more often or better than others, the starting point for marketing an architecture practice or any other specialist business.
- A type of client. A sector, size or situation the business understands well.
- A way of working. A process, standard of communication or level of involvement that clients notice.
- A track record. Specific projects, clients or results that others cannot match.
The best way to find it is to ask your best clients why they chose you and why they stay. Their answers are often more specific than anything on the website.
Prove it
A difference that is claimed without evidence reads like every other claim. The diagram on this page shows the pattern: three competitors with general claims and stock photos, and one business with a specific position and ten comparable projects. Proof might be projects with dates and scope, reviews that name the work, credentials, or the names of clients who have agreed to be mentioned.
Make it recognisable
Being different is only useful if buyers remember it. The Ehrenberg-Bass Institute’s work on distinctive brand assets shows the value of elements that are both well known and unique to a brand, such as a colour, symbol or name. Presenting the difference consistently, in the same words and the same visual identity across every channel, is what makes it stick.
Where to start
List what your competitors say, ask your clients what they value, and find the overlap that only your business can prove. That becomes the core of your position. Zelexis runs this exercise with clients at the start of its brand positioning work, and it often shows that the difference was there all along.
A useful next step
Something to try this week.
Copy the headline and first paragraph from the home pages of your three closest competitors into one document, with yours alongside. Remove the business names. If you cannot tell which one is yours, your difference is not yet visible to buyers.