How to Discover Your Point of Difference (And Avoid the Crowd)

Patrick McFadden • December 27, 2018

In my opinion the most important step any business can take is to discover a way to be different.


The market needs a way to compare and differ and if you don’t give them one they’ll default to price comparison.


Different is doing something like no other. Different is creating your own category. Different is exceeding people’s low expectations. Different is marketing in a way that makes people take notice.

Most of the time business owners seem to be in the sea of sameness and this is what leads to low profits and that sinking feeling that somehow your business is stuck.


Now, if I’ve got your attention let me add this. If you want to succeed in business you have one job — find a way to demonstrate, highlight, communicate, and propose that you are different in a way that your ideal client values.


Okay, enough talking let me show you the step-by-step approach to discover your point of difference that ideal clients value and what sets your business apart from every other business that says they provide what you provide, offer what you offer, make what you make or do what you do.


Step #1. Identify your ideal client

The first step in this process of discovering your point of difference is to identify your ideal client. I wrote about Finding Your Ideal Clients here on Instagram. Within every target market is a segment of people who you are best suited to serve, who value what you do and are very profitable for your business. This group of buyers represent your ideal client.


Create a spreadsheet of your existing clients with a focus on segmenting your client base between normal accounts and your most successful (ideal) accounts. Your most successful or ideal accounts should have the following two key behaviors: they are profitable and also talk about your business to others.


Next interview 5 to 10 of these ideal clients, either in person or over the phone, to discover what they like about your product or service or experience. You need to dig in and find that way of doing things that your ideal clients truly value, what’s going on your industry that frustrates them or how to turn the way your industry have always done it into an opportunity for innovation.


Step #2. Ask your ideal clients these questions

The greatest source for your different strategy is your ideal clients.


I know you know what sets you apart from the crowd, but your customers know what sets you apart in the ways that are important and valuable to them.


Take Note: you’re not looking for quantitative data here, you’re looking stories that offer insight into what really makes your business different. From experience, you will need to use follow-up statements such as — “Awesome, we provide high quality service, what do you mean?.”


  1. Why did you decide to hire us or buy from us initially? (This question helps you focus in on your marketing. Are customers receptive to your online presence, advertising, promotional efforts, message and sales process? Discovering what is effective is the kind of insight that can pay huge dividends.)
  2. What’s the one thing we should never stop doing? (Find out what your customers really value about you, your services/products and your company. This question lets you discover your true differentiator. Is it your friendly staff, the way they get results, your 24 hour responsiveness or the way you clean up after every job?)
  3. What’s one thing we could do to create a better experience for you? (The real value in this question is in your customer identifying or describing something your company, service or product could do to provide added value or just do 10% better. )
  4. If you were to refer us what would you say? (I believe instead of just asking your customers would they refer you, get some insight into the words, phrases, and examples they would use when referring your business. This can help you further differentiate away from competitors and open up opportunities for educating your strategic partners.)
  5. What would you Google to find a service/product like ours? (If you want your business to be easily found online by future customers, you need to know everything you can about the key words and phrases they use when looking for services and products like yours. This is one of the most important aspects of your lead generation efforts.)


Step #3. Peek at testimonials, recommendations and reviews

Testimonials and reviews are another place to go look for insight into your point of difference. If you’re getting any kind of third party proof, you’re going to find that people will reveal the details of the experience they had and what they value.


Here’s a great example from a client of ours. Note the highlights in each review state about the same thing. Their ideal clients give us a direction for their point of difference.

Step #4. Work with insights and stories that matter

From your differentiation interviews and research you should have some insights and stories to work with. Don’t underestimate the power of simple things. Most likely your clients value the little things you do.


  • returning their phone calls
  • helping them look at problems in a different way
  • remembering their name
  • helping them consider all the possible approaches
  • cleaning up after you’re done on a project
  • sharing new ideas, tips, and tools with them
  • arriving on time on
  • talking in plain English not industry jargon
  • helping them know where potential landmines could be hidden
  • sending weekly updates
  • doing what you say, when you say it
  • teaching them about trends that will affect their business in the future
  • responding back in 24 hours
  • frequently challenging them to think bigger
  • being more of a consultant than a salesperson
  • keeping them in the loop


Do not dismiss these little things as unimportant and worthless for communicating your point of difference.

I once worked with a repair contractor that felt their fast response time was the key and while their clients acknowledged this they admitted that it was their fast repair time that they saw the real value and difference in. Fast response doesn’t keep the manufacturing plant up and working, fast repairs do.


Contact your marketing consultant at Indispensable Marketing

If you’re a small service based business that needs help with finding a core difference or your business’s online presence on Google and other search engines, at Indispensable Marketing we can help. We offer marketing strategy consulting, marketing audits, monthly marketing packages, consultations, exploratory calls or monthly local SEO services. Contact us for more information.

The Missing Layer in AI: Why Judgment, Not Just Data, Will Define the Next Era of Intelligence

By Patrick McFadden • May 2, 2025
Everyone is scaling outputs. Almost no one is scaling judgment.

Everyone Talks About AI Judgment. We Built It.

By Patrick McFadden • May 2, 2025
Ask anyone in tech where AI is headed, and they’ll tell you: “The next leap is reasoning.” “AI needs judgment.” “We need assistants that think, not just answer.” They’re right. But while everyone’s talking about it, almost no one is actually shipping it. So we did. We built Thinking OS™ —a system that doesn’t just help AI answer questions… It helps AI think like a strategist. It helps AI decide like an operator. It helps teams and platforms scale judgment, n ot just generate output. The Theory Isn’t New. The Implementation Is. The idea of layering strategic thinking and judgment into AI isn’t new in theory. The problem is, no one’s been able to implement it effectively at scale. Let’s look at the current landscape. 1. Big Tech Has the Muscle—But Not the Mind OpenAI / ChatGPT ✅ Strength: Best-in-class language generation ❌ Limitation: No built-in judgment or reasoning. You must provide the structure. Otherwise, it follows instructions, not strategy. Google DeepMind / Gemini ✅ Known for advanced decision-making (e.g., AlphaGo) ❌ But only in structured environments like games—not messy, real-world business scenarios. Anthropic (Claude), Meta (LLaMA), Microsoft Copilot ✅ Great at answering questions and following commands ❌ But they’re assistants, not advisors. They won’t reprioritize. They won’t challenge your assumptions. They don’t ask: “Is this the right move?” These tools are powerful—but they don’t think for outcomes the way a strategist or operator would. 2. Who’s Actually Building the Thinking Layer™? This is where it gets interesting—and thin. Startups and Indie Builders Some small teams are quietly: Creating custom GPTs that mimic how experts reason Layering in business context, priorities, and tradeoffs Embedding decision logic so AI can guide, not just execute But these efforts are: Highly manual Difficult to scale Fragmented and experimental Enterprise Experiments A few companies (Salesforce, HubSpot, and others) are exploring more “judgment-aware” AI copilots. These systems can: Flag inconsistencies Recommend next actions Occasionally surface priorities based on internal logic But most of it is still: In early R&D Custom-coded Unproven beyond narrow use cases That’s Why Thinking OS™ Is Different Instead of waiting for a lab to crack it, we built a modular thinking system that installs like infrastructure. Thinking OS™: Captures how real experts reason Embeds judgment into layers AI can use Deploys into tools like ChatGPT or enterprise systems Helps teams think together, consistently, at scale It’s not another assistant. It’s the missing layer that turns outputs into outcomes. So… Is This a New Innovation? Yes—in practice. Everyone says AI needs judgment. But judgment isn’t an idea. It’s a system. It requires: Persistent memory Contextual awareness Tradeoff evaluation Value-based decisions Strategy that evolves with goals Thinking OS™ delivers that. And unlike the R&D experiments in Big Tech, it’s built for: Operators Consultants Platform founders Growth-stage teams that need to scale decision quality, not just content creation If Someone Told You They’ve Built a Thinking + Judgment Layer™… They’ve built something only a handful of people in the world are even attempting. Because this isn’t just AI that speaks fluently. It’s AI that reasons, reflects , and chooses. And in a world that’s drowning in tools, judgment becomes the differentiator. That’s the OS We Built Thinking OS™ is not a prompt pack. It’s not a dashboard. It’s not a glorified chatbot. It’s a decision architecture you can license, embed, or deploy— To help your team, your platform, or your clients think better at scale. We’ve moved past content. We’re building cognition. Let’s talk.

We Found the Missing Layer AI Has Been Waiting For

By Patrick McFadden • May 2, 2025
In every era of innovation, there’s a silent bottleneck—something obvious in hindsight, but elusive until the moment it clicks. In today’s AI-driven world, that bottleneck is clear: AI has speed. It has scale. But it doesn’t have judgment . It doesn’t really think . What’s Actually Missing From AI? When experts talk about the “thinking and judgment layer” as the next leap for AI, they’re calling out a hard truth: Modern AI systems are powerful pattern machines. But they’re missing the human layer—the one that reasons, weighs tradeoffs, and makes strategic decisions in context. Let’s break that down: 1. The Thinking Layer = Reasoning with Purpose This layer doesn’t just process inputs— it structures logic. It’s the ability to: Ask the right questions before acting Break down complexity into solvable parts Adjust direction mid-course when reality changes Think beyond “what was asked” to uncover “what really matters” Today’s AI responds. But it rarely reflects. Unless told exactly what to do, it won’t work through problems the way a strategist or operator would. 2. The Judgment Layer = Decision-Making in the Gray Judgment is the ability to: Prioritize what matters most Choose between imperfect options Make decisions when there’s no clear answer Apply values, experience, and vision—not just data It’s why a founder might not pursue a lucrative deal. Why a marketer might ignore the click-through rate. Why a strategist knows when the timing isn’t right. AI doesn’t do this well. Not yet. Because judgment requires more than data—it requires discernment . Why This Is the Bottleneck Holding Back AI AI can write. It can summarize. It can automate. But it still can’t: Diagnose the real problem behind the question Evaluate tradeoffs like a founder or operator would Recommend a path based on context, constraints, and conviction AI today is still reactive. It follows instructions. But it doesn’t lead. It doesn’t guide. It doesn’t own the outcome. And for those building serious systems—whether you’re running a company, launching a platform, or leading a team—this is the wall you eventually hit. That’s Why We Built Thinking OS™ We stopped waiting for AI to learn judgment on its own. Instead, we created a system that embeds it—by design. Thinking OS™ is an installable decision layer that captures how top founders, strategists, and operators think… …and makes that thinking repeatable , scalable , and usable inside teams, tools, and platforms. It’s not a framework. It’s not a chatbot. It’s not another playbook. It’s the layer that knows how to: Think through complex decisions Apply judgment when rules don’t help Guide others —human or AI—toward strategic outcomes This Is the Missing Infrastructure Thinking OS™ isn’t just about better answers. It’s about better thinking—made operational. And that’s what’s been missing in AI, consulting, leadership development, and platform design. If you’re trying to scale expertise, install judgment, or move from tactical to strategic… You don’t need a faster AI. You need a thinking layer that knows what to do—and why. We built it. Let’s talk.
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