That sounds harsh. But it's true.
A maintenance supervisor at a billion-dollar manufacturing plant needed to replace an industrial air compressor. Two vendors submitted bids. Both came in at $60,000. Same warranties. Same shipping times. Roughly the same reputations.
The plant engineer looked at both proposals and gave the supervisor honest advice: "Just flip a coin."
Think your prospects aren't doing the same thing when choosing between you and your competitors? They absolutely are. Maybe not with an actual coin, but they're using similarly meaningless criteria. Your logo looks nicer. The receptionist was friendly. Your office is closer to their house.
This happens because they can't see a real difference between you and everyone else.
Most companies running on EOS have their operations locked down. You have the right people in the right seats. Your processes are documented. Your scorecard tracks what matters. You're executing on your vision.
But if your prospects can't tell how you're different from the three other companies they're talking to, none of that matters. You're stuck fighting on price. Or worse, you're losing deals to competitors who aren't even better than you.
Here's what's really happening: your inside reality doesn't match your outside perception. You know you're different. Your team knows you're different. But your prospects? They see you as just another option in a sea of sameness.
Let's talk about what differentiation actually does for your business.
Say you're getting 10 leads per month and closing 1 deal (a 10% close rate). Each deal is worth $50,000. That's $600,000 in annual revenue.
Now imagine you figure out how to clearly communicate what makes you different. Your salespeople start talking about the unique way you do business. Things prospects don't hear from anyone else.
You don't get more leads. You don't change your pricing. You just tell a better story.
And you close just one more deal per month.
One doesn't sound like much. Until you do the math.
That one extra deal doubles your close rate from 10% to 20%. Instead of $50,000 a month, you're at $100,000. Annual sales jump from $600,000 to $1.2 million.
Without spending one extra penny on marketing.
That's the power of differentiation. Not advertising. Not more leads. Just a better way to talk about who you are and what you do.
Companies have gone from 2% to 4%, from 5% to 10%, from 15% to 30%. Same company. Same capabilities. Different story.
Being remarkable isn't about being flashy or clever. It's about being worth noticing. Something uncommon. Something extraordinary enough that people actually remark about it to others.
If you've been in business for more than three years, you're already doing something remarkable. Otherwise, you'd be out of business. The problem is you're too close to it. You can't see what makes you special because it feels normal to you.
Here's what I find with most clients: they have a fantastic way of doing business, but they completely fail at translating that into words their prospects understand. When we align what they actually do with how prospects perceive them, revenue goes through the roof.
Back in the early 2000s, an auto parts distributor was competing with a bunch of other guys doing the exact same thing. Everyone sent out thick catalogs every quarter. The products were identical. The prices were similar.
After attending a marketing seminar, the distributor made one change. He printed his catalog on neon pink paper.
That's it. Neon pink paper.
Sales rose significantly. Not because pink paper means better auto parts. But because it gave customers a reason to remember him. It helped him stand out when everything else looked the same.
Your prospects are desperately looking for a reason to choose you over everyone else. Don't make them flip a coin. Give them something real to latch onto.
You don't need a bigger marketing budget. You don't need to hire an expensive agency. You don't need a fancy new website.
You need to answer one question: Why should someone choose you over every other option?
And "we've been in business 15 years" doesn't cut it. Neither does "we have great customer service" or "we're the experts." Everyone says that.
What do you do that's uncommon? What do you offer that solves problems in a way your prospects have never heard before? What makes working with you different from working with anyone else?
If you can't answer those questions clearly, your prospects are flipping that coin. And you're leaving half your revenue on the table.
Most companies pour money into advertising tactics without ever figuring out their strategy. They spend on Google Ads, billboards, social media campaigns. All trying to get more leads into the top of the funnel.
But if your message looks like everyone else's, those leads are worthless. You're burning money to get people who can't tell why they should choose you.
The companies that win? They figure out their differentiation first. They identify who they're uniquely positioned to serve. They articulate how they solve problems differently. Then they tell that story everywhere.
Your operations are tight. Your team is strong. Your vision is clear. Now it's time to make sure your prospects can actually see what makes you the obvious choice.
Because right now, they're flipping a coin.