Stand out from the crowd

A couple of months ago my family went to a community festival. Jimbo the Clown was there making balloon figures for the kids. He’s a good clown, that Jimbo.

My daughter has already started thinking about her 5th birthday party next spring. There are a lot of options to entertain 5-year-olds for two hours but my wife and I found ourselves thinking about booking Jimbo. So I did a little research.

Jimbo is a member of the World Clown Association and the Mid-Atlantic Clown Association. These associations provide lots of benefits to members, including regional meetings and a national convention with lots of educational content. He has participated in a number of regional clowning events and even won the 2006 Dinkus Award at one of them. For much of his clowning career he’s been a full-time clown, not just a part-time weekend clown.

Interesting…but is there a reason that his awards and involvement matter to me as a consumer? Is there a reason that they should? Isn’t it all about the creativity of his balloon animals?

Credentials are a good thing. Awards and involvement signify that someone is dedicated to his craft and is willing to go that elusive “extra mile” towards being a professional.

But I’m not asking why credentials are good in a vacuum. Is it enough to know that he has some credentials or is there a reason why his credentials are better than the next guy’s?

Have you really considered what consumers see when they look at your qualifications? Do they really care that you’ve won the Sales Circle award or that you have three designations? Does it matter to them that you’re active in the local association or Rotary?

Are you content to have your credentials tell prospective clients “I do more than the minimum” or are there reasons why your specific credentials set you above your competition? And most importantly, are you conveying that value to potential clients or are you leaving it up to them to figure it all out?