Different Is Better Than Better, Part 2: What My Clients Said When I Asked Why They Hired Me

In short:

• I asked my longest-standing clients the same two questions: why did you hire me, and why do you continue to hire me?
• I expected to hear about my knowledge, education, and background. What I heard most was how they experienced our first conversation. That was a surprise!
• Their answers became two pillars, relational depth and strategic objectivity. Together they form the positioning used now: Strategic Perspective You Feel From the First Conversation.

To find out what makes Synnovatia different, I asked my longest-standing clients two questions: why did you hire me, and why do you continue to hire me? This is Part 2 of my “different is better than better” story. Part 1 covered where the idea comes from and why I decided to test it on my own advisory practice before bringing it to anyone else. This part covers how the research worked, what surprised me, and what I did with the answers.

Why did I ask my clients instead of deciding for myself?

I could have sat down with a legal pad and written out what I thought made Synnovatia different. Many of us do that. The trouble is that we’re all too close to our own businesses to see them clearly.

There was a second reason. Pete Martin’s “lighthouse positioning” in his book, Scale Up Faster, has two requirements: you must be unique, and it must be something customers care about. Clients are a much better gauge of both, in my opinion.

Who did I ask?

I started with a list of top clients. I defined a top client as someone who has engaged my services multiple times over many years. I’ve been fortunate that many clients have worked with me for more than a decade.

Then I emailed each of them. I explained what I was working on and asked for a 15-minute interview.

What two questions did I ask?

The questions were simple, and I wanted to keep them that way.

1. Why did you hire me?
2. Why do you continue to hire me?

Everyone got the same two questions. That let me compare the answers, and it respected the 15 minutes I asked for.

How did I make sense of the answers?

I have to admit I had some assistance with this part from Claude, my able AI assistant. After each interview, I entered my notes using the client’s exact words wherever possible. Claude created a summary of each conversation, and I sent that summary back to the client. I wanted to be sure that what they said, what I understood, and how it was interpreted all matched. Every client had the opportunity to edit or correct their summary.

From there, the answers were sorted into themes based on how many clients echoed the same idea without being prompted. A theme was “emerging” if one client raised it, “strong” if two or three raised it independently, and “dominant” if most of them did.

As it turned out, what makes Synnovatia different was a combination of several strong themes. That’s harder to fit on a billboard and also harder for anyone else to copy.

What surprised me most?

Honestly, what surprised me most was how clients spoke about our first conversation. They talked about how well I listened, the questions I asked, and the feeling that their situation was recognized. My assumption going in was that my knowledge, education, and background would be primary.

Two comments have stayed with me. One client said no one else in the industry does what I do for businesses of this size. That really struck me. As I mentioned in Part 1, most experts write for larger, more corporate organizations and here was a client telling me that the gap is real.

Another client said they always leave the conversation better than when they came in. That was so rewarding to hear! It told me the conversations are, in fact, making a difference. That’s important to me!

What did the answers add up to?

Once everything was compiled into a positioning brief, the difference became real and tangible. Two pillars emerged.

The first is relational depth. It’s the trust that comes from working with a fellow owner who understands what it’s like to grow a business. Clients described someone who listens and makes them feel understood, pushes them kindly, and stays with the problem until it moves.

The second is strategic objectivity. It’s the clarity that comes from an advisor who stands outside your business and still understands it. Clients described broad experience across industries, paired with enough knowledge of their own field to put words to what they already sense so they can decide without fear.

Plenty of advisors offer one or the other. The combination of the two is what sets Synnovatia apart.

How did the research change the way I describe my work?

That surprise about first conversations is in the name of the positioning: Strategic Perspective You Feel From the First Conversation.

It also gave me a plain way to say what I do.

For B2B service business owners whose growth has stalled in the Messy Middle, I bring Fortune 500-level strategic thinking, sized to fit your business. It gives us the big-picture view and the depth to understand your specific situation. You leave with focus and clarity about what to do next, often from the first conversation.

Then I redesigned the website around it, with different colors, fonts, layout, and content. The new site launched on September 11, 2026.

How can you run this research on your own business?

For those who want the step-by-step process, this is the one I followed. It takes more patience than money.

1. Read enough about “different is better than better” to know what you’re looking for.
2. Make a list of your top clients. Decide what “top” means for you.
3. Settle on two questions and ask every client the same ones.
4. Email each client, explain your purpose, and ask for 15 minutes.
5. Conduct the interviews and write down their exact words wherever you can.
6. Send each client a summary of what you heard and invite corrections.
7. Sort the answers into themes by how many clients raised each one without being prompted.
8. Rewrite your positioning statement from the strongest themes.
9. Update your website and marketing to match.
10. Set a baseline date and track the results.

What happens next?

This is where the rubber meets the road, as they say. The metrics I’m tracking include more business, more exposure, and greater interest against the baseline of September 11, 2026. It’s still early. I’ll share the results here as they come in, along with any adjustments I make.

In the meantime, I’m curious. If you asked your best clients why they hired you, what do you think they’d say? Would you be right?

Frequently asked questions

What questions should I ask clients to find out what makes my business different?

I asked two: why did you hire me, and why do you continue to hire me? Asking every client the same questions makes the answers easy to compare.

Which clients should I interview?

Start with your top clients. I defined mine as clients who engaged my services multiple times over many years, because they have chosen the business more than once and can say why.

How many client interviews do I need?

Statistics class teaches us that about 30 subjects are needed for a normal distribution. (I knew that stats class would pay off sooner or later.)

What are emerging, strong, and dominant themes?

They describe how many clients raised the same idea without being prompted. An emerging theme came from one client, a strong theme from two or three clients independently, and a dominant theme from most of them.

Should clients see how their interview was summarized?

Yes. I sent each client a summary of our conversation and gave them the chance to edit or correct it before I used anything they said.

What is Strategic Perspective You Feel From the First Conversation?

It is the name of Synnovatia’s positioning. It rests on two pillars from the client research: relational depth, the trust that comes from working with a fellow owner who understands what it’s like to grow a business, and strategic objectivity, the clarity that comes from an advisor who stands outside your business and still understands it. (More on why strategic perspective is important in upcoming perspectives.)

About the author

Jackie Nagel is the founder of Synnovatia. She has 25+ years of experience running her own company and working alongside owners across a wide range of industries.

Sources

• Pete Martin, Scale Up Faster: The Secrets of the World’s Quickest-Growing Bootstrapped Companies (Inc. Original Publishing): https://www.amazon.com/Scale-Faster-Quickest-Growing-Bootstrapped-Companies/dp/1639090487
• Different Is Better Than Better, Part 1: https://www.synnovatia.com/different-is-better-than-better-part-1/

Next step

If you run a bootstrapped B2B service business and you’re in the Messy Middle, I’d love to hear where you are. Schedule a conversation.