Your People Aren’t the Differentiator (And Everyone Else Thinks They Are Too)

Ask any founder of a boutique professional services firm what sets them apart, and you’ll almost always hear the same thing: “Our people.”

They’ll tell you they have senior talent. That their team has worked on the client side. That they bring unmatched experience to the table. And in many cases, they’re right. The pride is real, and the team is strong.

But there’s a problem: everyone is saying this.

During Collective 54’s new member onboarding, we used to ask founders to list their top three uniques—what makes them different from the competition. Nearly every time, “our people” showed up. And nearly every time, that same answer showed up from their competitors, too.

So here’s the truth:
If everyone claims to have the best people, then no one actually does.

What Buyers Actually Remember

When a prospective client chooses your firm over another, they might say they liked your team—but it’s rarely the real reason they bought.

They bought because you understood the problem better.
You moved faster.
You made things easier.
You delivered more value for the price.

Those are the comments we hear in post-sale conversations. Not “your team had great résumés,” but “you just made the decision easy.”

Clients are choosing based on outcomes and experience—not org charts or LinkedIn bios.

The Differentiators That Actually Matter

In nearly every win story we hear, the true differentiators fall into three buckets:
Better. Faster. Cheaper.

• Better: You solve the problem more effectively. You bring sharper insight. You deliver higher ROI.
• Faster: You reduce time-to-value. You’re responsive. You’re easy to work with.
• Cheaper: You cost less—or provide more value for the same spend.

Your people might enable these things. But they’re not the differentiator. The result is.

A Simple Exercise to Find Your Real Edge

Want to know what truly makes you different? Ask the people who chose you.

Conduct a win-loss analysis. Look at your last 10 deals. What patterns show up? When you win, what do clients actually say? When you lose, what’s the reason they give?

Ask yourself:

• Where are we delivering better results than the competition?
• Where are we consistently faster?
• Where are we easier to work with?
• Where do we provide more value for the same price?

Start with the client’s experience, not your internal narrative. There’s a guide in the Collective 54 Resource Center for members if you want to go deeper into win-loss analysis.

The Bottom Line

Your people may power your firm—but your outcomes are what sell it.

If you want to stand out in a crowded market, stop saying what everyone else is saying. Focus on what your buyers actually care about: better, faster, cheaper.