Desperately Seeking Differentiators

Recently, I got another email talking about the importance of differentiating your firm. This one was for a webinar where they promise that you will "learn how to choose your differentiator".  Wait, all I have to do it choose?!  Who knew!

When exactly did your differentiator become a mere choice? If I do something simply and only for the sake of being 'different', what is the value? Even if there were some sort of master list from which to choose, isn't it then likely that someone else will choose the same thing?

Don't get me wrong - differentiators are valuable and can be very effective. They are a vehicle by which to deliver a message. But let's remember to put it belongs, where it can actually be useful (you know, behind the horse). Here are a few things to keep in mind about differentiators, and why you are better served to focus on being authentic rather than on being different.

Here today, gone tomorrow.  

So you found something that makes you truly, genuinely quite different. That's great! Just don't put all your gluten-free, organic eggs in that ethically-traded basket because it won't take long for people to jump on your fuel-efficient bandwagon. If it's any good, your differentiator will go from "oh-so-different" to "not-so-different" faster than you can say iPhone 7.  

They're just not that into you.  

Don't try to be everything to everyone. This is not only impossible and exhausting - it's counterproductive, eroding and devaluing your brand. Accept that you are not a good fit for everyone and move on - don't change what you do or how you do it or who you are just to please someone else. Good dating advice, too (thanks mom). 

Speaking of your mom, she was wrong 

You're really not all that special (don't shoot the messenger). It's easy to be distracted by other people's fancy (and sometimes less-than-fancy) "differentiators."  We've all been there: you stumble across someone's website or blog post and mutter under your breath, "but I do that!"  In fact, it just happened to me. Twice, yesterday. Before lunch.  

Trying to one-up them and prove that it was in fact an original thought - YOUR original thought, damn it! - is unproductive, futile and quite honestly, unnecessary. Just because someone else had the same idea does not diminish yours...unless of course, you let it. But it will take away valuable time that would be better used simply doing whatever it is that you do.  Maybe differently, maybe better, maybe not. But at least it will be authentic. Imagine that.

Potato, potato

Nobody cares if you communicate, articulate, translate, exemplify, demonstrate, or illustrate your point - just please do it so that we actually understand, comprehend, digest, grasp, follow or "get" it. Using the word 'synergy' in place of 'collaboration' does not differentiate you, it simply proves you can use a thesaurus. 

It's all relative

The reason differentiators are so complicated is that they can only exist relative to something else; something which itself is different for every person based on a different set of circumstances, different experiences, different standards and different expectations. In short, we overlook the theory of relativity and try to define something without an 'absolute' frame of reference in 'absolute' terms. Daunting, even for Einstein.

Don't let the tail wag the dog

Differentiators can be incredibly powerful - when they come from a place of authenticity.  They should be the genuine result of your efforts, not the driving reason for them. Do things only for the sake of being different and you will lose sight of your authenticity, and when you lose your authenticity, you will lose your only real differentiator. After all, the only thing that nobody else can be, is you. And that right there, is perfectly different. (Thanks again, mom.)