Lots of small businesses do essentially the same thing. That reality leads to an even greater perception by the prospective client that one accountant is like another, one web designer is like another, one remodeling contractor is like another, one fill in the blank here is like another.

In your heart you may know that’s not true, but unless you do something to prove it so, perception is reality. I think most businesses miss what it is that does make them different. It’s true, if you prepare tax returns, many others may do what you do. But, the magic, and the way in which you win the hearts and minds of your clients is “how you do it.”

I once visited with an actual tax specialist and financial planner who offered very good coffee, great music and a masseuse while clients waited to have their taxes prepared. Believe me, no one visited his financial spa to talk price. They did prepare taxes, but how they did it, the experience, the process that clients were treated to, was what made them different. That was their entire marketing message.

Another example. An upscale remodeling contractor thought quality work and craftsmanship set his firm apart. Turns out that quality work was an expectation or what all his competitors did. His actual clients told us it was the fact that his people cleaned up the job site everyday that made the difference. The remodeling process was as important as the remodeling project.

Tell people how you do what you do, prove that you have a process that’s unique and then build that difference, that process, into your lead generation, lead nurturing, lead conversion and client experience and suddenly, your business will stand out.

Bonus thought: Journalists love stories about “how you do what you do” way more than pitches about what you do.

Successful businesses usually get that way by doing something well. Really successful businesses get that way by doing something well and documenting, duplicating, and training associates on how to do it using a system.

A killer innovation strategy in these cases is to look at what you do well and determine how to turn it into a product of service and sell it.

There are countless examples in every industry of an individual business that creates a successful way of doing something and sells that success system to others in the industry. In some cases, this work becomes far more rewarding that what the business actually did in the first place.

What part of making it, fixing it, packaging it, and shipping it could you do for another market segment? Who else could you teach how to do what you do?

How could you turn what is now a necessary expense or cost of production into a product or service that turns a profit? Is there an element of research, acquisition, project management, or process that you do to make a better product, but could actually become something you sell. Is there anything that your current clients do that they would gladly offload to you? Is there a software or application that you rock at using that others would pay you to teach?

Innovation of this sort is embedded in the walls – it’s the soul of your business really – and selling it just might re-energize the way you think about business entirely.