I’m not a big fan of the word “green.” I know lots of contractors who shy away from using the word “quality” to describe their services. My sister hates the adjective “world-class” and prohibits people in her organization from using it. These are all words that populate our marketing materials and sales messages, and their overuse has made them meaningless.
As soon as you tell your client that the project, service or business is green, quality or worldclass, he will either ignore you because you haven’t told him anything vital or he will begin to doubt your sincerity. Why? Because we are inundated with these words, and often they are used to describe something that is decidedly not green, not quality and not world-class.
It is essential that we find ways to describe our services that differentiate us from our competition. When I’m speaking with a reader who is rightfully proud of the business he has built, I often ask him to describe what separates his business from his best competition. It’s easy to differentiate ourselves from the low-cost, fly-by-night operators, but if you want to get full value for your services and command a profit margin worthy of that value, you have to be able to express it in terms that are specific and unique to your organization.
When I ask contractors to describe what is best about their company, they often use phrases such as “attention to detail” or “care about our customers.” Like “quality” and “world-class,” these phrases don’t really say much about what you do or show how your organization is unique.
Here’s a suggestion. Take the time to scour your website, marketing brochures and sales materials to look for words that describe your company. Examine them and ask yourself if those words truly are descriptive of the unique culture you have created. Or are they just marketing words that say what you think the customer wants to hear?
Then, ask your employees how they would describe the company. You might discover a new set of words that create a completely different picture. “Fun,” “smart,” “well-organized,” “aggressive,” “devoted.” Those words are a lot different than “quality” and “world-class.” In fact, those words are more often used to describe people, not organizations.
And there is your differentiator. If you can accurately describe how your organization functions and do so using terms that describe people, you will humanize the company and create more interest in your brand. People want to work with people, not sterile organizations. The right words will help you communicate the unique humanity of your company.
