In 1970, Listerine’s marketing department was feeling the heat. P&G had launched a new mouthwash brand as a competitor a few years before. They called it Scope. And they attacked Listerine’s obvious weakness — taste. Listerine burned like medicine. Consumers knew it. So Scope entered the market using taste as its differentiator. They claimed a…
Articles
The Objection Funnel: Why Credibility Can’t Replace Clarity in Consulting Firms’ Messaging
Most marketers think social proof sells. But it doesn’t. It reassures. And this difference changes how to do messaging right. Imagine going to a consulting firm’s website. You’d like to figure out what they do. But you struggle. Because first, you read an aspirational mission statement that means nothing. Then they bombard you with social…
Points of Parity: Why Saying What Buyers Expect Never Makes Your Consulting Firm Stand Out
You can’t differentiate your brand by using what’s expected. Let me explain with an example. Go to 20 management consulting firm websites. You’ll see that they claim to be different by providing high-quality work. Or by bragging about years of experience. But here’s the problem. These are expected by buyers. All management consultancy firms are…
How To Legally Reduce Your Competition In Crowded Markets
Who wouldn’t want less competition in the market? How easy everything would be. You could charge much more. Clients would stick with you longer, maybe forever. And you’d grow like there is no tomorrow. It’d be a dream come true for every executive. Well, there are ways to reduce your competition legally. The obvious option…
7 Rules to Build Messaging That Actually Influences Your Buyers
Why do many consulting firms struggle to get their message across? Why is their value lost in translation? Here’s one reason. Many executives confuse messaging with copywriting. But messaging isn’t just about beautiful words. It’s about making decisions. It’s about clarity. Most consulting firms skip straight to copy and content, without building the structure beneath…
12 Differences Between Incumbents And Challengers (And How Challengers Win)
Every industry has its incumbents. Established players who come at the top of buyers’ category ladders. Like McKinsey and Accenture for consulting. Salesforce and Hubspot for CRM. Or Adobe and Canva for creative software. And then you have the challengers. New and upcoming players who try to get a hold in the market. They compete…
Why Big Words Mean So Little In Consulting Firms’ Messaging
Oscar Wilde has a quote I like: “Don’t use big words. They mean so little.” But most consulting firms don’t follow Wilde’s advice. They love big words. They want to revolutionize stuff. They want to supercharge growth. But guess what these big words and phrases mean for buyers? Nothing. They are vague. They are disconnected…
Three Marketing Bottlenecks That Keep Consulting Firms Stuck (And Their Symptoms)
Three marketing bottlenecks keep consulting firms stuck at a certain revenue level: These problems keep the business from growing to its next stage. Some businesses just have one. Some others might have all three to a certain degree. They have different symptoms: 1. Wrong Positioning You create the wrong value and/or for the wrong clients.…
How Buying Triggers Make Your Marketing Matter to Buyers
What leads your clients to look for a solution like yours? What makes them realize they have a problem? The answers to these questions matter. Because when you know your clients’ buying triggers, you can: Think about the buying triggers in our lives. Like becoming a parent. Your life changes when you learn you’ll become…
How Clear Positioning Creates a Natural “Flow State” Inside Your Firm
Having clarity around your consulting firm’s positioning has a hidden upside. We usually talk about how it helps you win clients. It raises your perceived value. It makes buyers choose you over others. But it also changes things inside the business. You know what they say. Constraints breed creativity. A blank page is scary because…
