What can you do to stand out in a vibrant but crowded market?

What can you do to stand out in a vibrant but crowded market?
How to Stand Out in a Crowd

Reprinted with permission from Million Dollar Consulting® Mindset by Alan Weiss

Competition opens markets, but you still must stand out in that market. Wendy's and Burger King try to create very different identities from MacDonald's, even though they're all selling hamburgers.

What can you do to stand out in a vibrant but crowded market?

Be insightful. Don't maintain that teams should be developed, but take the position that most such groups are actually committees, not teams.

Step out of the hackneyed and mundane. Tell people that "talking the walk" is equally important with "walking the talk."

Be contrarian. Assert that leadership does not originate at the top or the bottom, but in the middle.

Use examples - preferably from the daily business headlines, to make your particular points. ("Today's purchase of T-Mobile by AT&T illustrates my point of consolidation inevitably following frenzied growth.") Most approaches are far too conceptual and theoretical.

Don't keep citing the thought leaders. If you use the dominant figures in the discipline to try to prove the legitimacy of your approach, the natural question becomes: "Then why shouldn't I as a client go directly to the source?"

Don't merely copy. You need original intellectual property and models. Wendy's doesn't have a burger called "The Big Wendy" like the Big Mac. It establishes proprietary offerings (The Baconator).

Use testimonials. Nothing sets you apart like a delighted client. Exploit your client list and try to obtain both video and textual testimonials.

Unlike fish in a school for protection, you want to be caught!