Specific positioning and task-flexible proposals are two major steps toward getting your clients to think about your work in terms of results rather than tasks.
Where it gets tricky is that specificity is the biggest, sharpest, and most commonly (mis)used double-edged sword in the specialist’s toolbox. The right amount of it changes depending on where you are in the client relationship.
For example:
Specificity of Introductions
I’ve met more than one IT consultant who introduced themselves by saying, “I help businesses with technology.”,
The result? No referrals, and nobody knows when to call.
The vagueness seems like a good idea as it broadens the base, but at the same time broadens the competition and makes them forgettable.
The cure: more specificity in the form of a meaningfully different one-liner identity
Specificity of proposals
Once they land a client however, they swing to the other extreme: itemizing every technical detail with precise rates and techno-babble.
Result? Their proposals read like menus, and clients jump at the opportunity to cherry-pick: “Can we remove the CDN? Do we need all five scripts?”
Although smart and talented, they basically position themselves as an expense to optimize, not a transformation to invest in.
The cure: less specificity in the form of a proposal based on outcomes, not checklists.
It’s simple, but not easy to do.