In my last post I described how small firms can win against big ones by gaining special access to a client. They can also win by delivering a compelling message. To be compelling, it must represent something that clearly differentiates you from your large competitors. Among the messages used this way are:

We do a better job, because this is the only thing that we do: A big competitor may be better known than you and have a stronger brand, but their brand is usually more diffused than yours, because it must encompass more services. All big firms also have practices that don't fit neatly within the brand they promote, and others that are clearly secondary in importance to the firms' businesses. This gives you the opportunity to differentiate your firm on the basis of your specialty. This argument will only succeed, if specialization really makes a difference in your area of work. You argue that because you don't do anything else, you recruit, train, promote, reward and organize around just this kind of work. This results in a more effective organization and better work producing better results for the client. If you can back this argument up with specialized data bases, research, publications or other demonstrable differentiators, so much the better.

We do a better job, because we have fewer conflicts of interest. The more services a firm has and the bigger it gets, the more likely it is to have potential conflicts of interest when serving a client. Sometimes they are so severe that they are subject to regulation. That happened to the big accounting firms which are now proscribed from serving as outsourced providers of an audit client's internal accounting and bookkeeping functions, as a result of the Sarbanes Oxley Act. Sometimes these potential conflicts draw sufficient heat that clients avoid them, even when not prohibited from doing so. In recent times this has kept many companies from buying executive compensation services from the firms which do their pension and benefits work. This provides opportunities for small, focused firms to replace them. As another example, if a law firm that works for insurance companies also does insurance recovery work, it raises a fair question about potential conflicts of interest. A firm specializing in insurance recovery and which doesn't work for insurance companies can win business on that basis.

You will get better service because your business will be more important to us than it will be to a big firm. A company that is a middling or small client to a big firm is likely to be a major account for yours. This means it will get more of attention from your firm. Your A Team will work the account, where a large competitor might assign a B or even a C team. The client can get easy access to the head of the firm, if it wants to for any reason. I know one small MEP (Mechanical, Electrical, Plumbing) consulting engineering firm, which specializes in small repair and renovation projects for large clients with big processing operations. They are set up to complete these projects efficiently and profitably, whereas, for large competitors, the projects are often seen as a nuisance. That they gladly take on small projects that others will do only begrudgingly wins work.

You will get a richer mix of talent from us, because we are less leveraged than big firms are, meaning fewer rookies working on your important assignment. You aren't expecting the client to pay for the education and development of junior team members, because the firm tends to hire experienced people.

We cost less, because we have less overhead. Many small firms don't compete on price. But many others do and there is nothing shameful about doing so. This works best if you are avoid giving the perception that you pay less, and so may attract less qualified people. One consulting firm has grown rapidly by focusing on selling work within an easy commute from its offices. Because travel costs for its consulting teams end up being much lower than for big firms which move huge teams from across the country to do an assignment, the total cost of their services is lower.

Winning against a big firm is challenging, but it sure feels good when you do