Communicating Differentiation to Grow Customers
Paul Travis is an Interim Management Executive with an expertise in determining and developing the right product for the target market and establishing the marketing infrastructure to profitably attract and retain customers.
Recently earning my CMC (Certified Management Consultant) prompted me as to revisit the importance of differentiation in the marketplace. In this particular case, only 1% of consultants have earned this accreditation.
While the Institute of Management Consultants has very low brand recognition in the marketplace (note they’re not the Institute of Marketing Consultants, but give me time!) it is simply following the model of the CPA, which businesspeople have come to understand is more rigorous, exam-tested, and worth more than an [otherwise uncertified] “accountant”.
This is especially helpful in the case of “consultants” (who tend to be born every time a company lays people off) where the business world really does benefit from having professional background-checking, courses taken and classes taught, and thorough indoctrination of international ethical standards and code of conduct.
One of my upcoming clients has an exciting, patented, energy-saving technology that provides 50-100% increase in electric motors. Our plans include creation of a certification that will help government, corporate, and consumer buyers know the difference between this technology and the status quo. Just like “Intel Inside” computer labeling, the Good Housekeeping Seal, and the “Underwriters Laboratories” label.
These communication devices help the customer in quickly understanding one level of quality vs. another. They (and partners) are willing to pay more for this!
The Opportunity: How can you differentiate your products or services in the customer’s mind from the rest of the pack?
Paul Travis can be contacted at Paul.Travis(at)oneaccordpartners.com or 206.910.2222. To learn more about Interim Marketing expert Paul Travis, you can view his profile at OneAccord or his blog 2020 Marketing.
Paul you’ve hit on an important topic. The CMC certification can play many different roles for individual advisors such as differentiation between consultants and reduction of buyers remorse by the client at the time of engagement.
As an industry group I think there’s also opportunity to use it as a greater force for change – things like improvement of payment terms from government clients for CMC advisors etc. – but for that to happen the ICMCI and CMC designating organizations around the globe are going to have to shift into branding gear soon. The 2008 IMC USA Brand Survey is a good start.
While 40% of respondents already indicated that the CMC gave them competitive advantage over non-CMC consultants that can improve significantly if the ICMCI takes the steps proposed to branding the designation internationally.
This past November I did a half day business development workshop as the guest of CMC Canada as they partnered with ICMCI and Dennis Strong to launch the Caribbean Institute of Certified Management Consultants chapter in Barbados. There was a lot of dicussion about how ICMCI could support the chapters and business development efforts of individual consultants in the Caribbean with strong branding of the CMC designation. In my opinion it was likely one of the key reasons that chapter was formed.
Take care Paul!