“Sandwiched” in the Crowd? Don’t Shout Out, Stand Out!

Years ago  while attending a conference in New Orleans, a colleague suggested at the session’s lunch break we skip the perfunctory plate of rubber chicken and instead, leave the hotel to sample one of the Crescent City’s more famous culinary staples, the Po’ Boy sandwich. 

Once outside I noticed a number of restaurants advertising a selection of Po’ Boys, but instead my luncheon guide hailed a cab and brought us to a section of the city which could, in a best-case scenario, only be described as “sketchy.” There, in the middle of the block stood a dilapidated eatery - where after the sun went down I wasn’t sure I’d even stop in to ask directions – that had a teeming line of customers that spilled out onto the sidewalk.

Once inside, it was a scene right out of the classic “Soup Nazi” episode of Seinfeld, where you placed your order with a surly line worker and then slowly made your way down to the register to an even surlier cashier.

Nearly 20 years later I will tell you that fried oyster Po’ Boy remains one of the best sandwiches I’ve ever eaten.

I asked my friend why so many people would make their way to a tenuous area in order to get a menu item that’s offered by hundreds of establishments in the city.

His answer was simple.

“Because theirs is better than anyone else’s.”

That’s a stunningly succinct point of differentiation.

I bring up this simple marketing message because earlier this week I presented a webinar on how to begin new practice niches. One of the points I stressed to attendees is that in today’s competitive landscape of public accounting you need to distinguish your firm from the one across the street.

Much like the above-mentioned provider of Po’ Boys, New Orleans certainly has no shortage of competitors in that capacity, but that dingy eatery managed to – if you’ll pardon the obvious pun – gobble up a huge chunk of market share because they held distinct advantages over the others – namely quality and taste.

The same holds true for client niches.

If firm A offers tax, write-up and audit and firm B offers tax, audit, write-up and litigation support and wealth planning, the chances are they’ll win a new client engagement.

“I want to start a new practice niche because I want to make more money,” communicated one attendee.

In truth, that’s precisely the wrong reason to go through the often painful process of beginning a new practice area. Naturally, the eventual goal of a new niche is to increase firm revenue, but if making money is the sole reason for undertaking that strategy, I’ll give you some free advice and save you several hundred Excedrin headaches in the future.

Raise your fees and go on as usual.

The firms with a measured growth strategy and unique practice areas that set them apart from the competitive crowd will likely be the ones with a parade of new clients.

And as a most trusted advisor, they might even know where to find a good Po’ Boy sandwich.