By Sean Ashcroft
STANDING out in a crowded marketplace is of paramount importance for a business to both grow and maintain its client roster. Without differentiation, client choice becomes pot luck, something that is good neither for client nor business.

A business can give itself a competitive advantage in many ways; what form this takes depends largely on the area in which it operates.

Brand differentiation 1. Unique selling points
Take the CV and Criminal Records Bureau verification market as an example.

Recruitment decisions are among the most important a business can make, so it’s no surprise the UK employee screening market currently sustains more than 50 companies.

That’s a ton of companies scrapping for the attention of human resources managers, who are most often the people who seek CV-checking services.

One of these companies is Bedfordshire-based Verifile, which was founded by Eyal Cohen -- who has sought to differentiate his venture by investing heavily in an online screening process for the convenience of his clients.

Brand differentiation 2. See things from clients’ view
“Other screening providers use offline systems, which means they ask clients to provide paperwork to get the process started, and at the end of it completed checks are then sent by post.”

This approach has obvious drawbacks for the client, says Cohen. “Other than continually phoning the screening supplier there’s no way for customers to track the progress of reports, and there’s a danger reports will get lost or delayed in the post, or be mislaid at either end.

Brand differentiation 3. Be prepared to invest
“We invested heavily in bespoke software because it’s convenient for our customers and allows us to create an audit trail and an archive of verification checks.”

Although costly, the online system has allowed Verifile to streamline and speed the screening process.

“This makes our services easy to use and accessible for businesses of every size,” says Cohen. “It keeps our overheads low and so enables us to offer an affordable service.

“This makes it easy for customers to see the value we add, and it’s why so many choose to use us as a regular part of their recruitment and selection process.”

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