A claim is just a claim; anyone can make one. Our claim of expertise helps us break through the clutter of competition and gain attention at the very first interaction with the prospective client. But from then on, it is incumbent on us to prove our claim. The further we progress into the buying cycle, the more the proof of our expertise aids us. Without proof, we find ourselves having to pitch—having to begin to solve the client’s problem as proof of our ability to solve his problem.

The proof that we desire to build, and that our future clients need to see, is rooted in our skills, capabilities and processes. These are things that we must never cease to build—assets to which we must never stop adding. Let us explore some means we have available to us to deepen our expertise.

Starting With Focus

The good news is that the very act of focus is likely to build depth. If we were to take two people of similar intellect and abilities and charge the first with building a business with a broad focus and the second with building a business with a narrow focus, we would find that the second person would build a depth of expertise exponentially greater than that of the first. He could not help but do so, for when we narrow our field of thought we think deeper. We need not be smarter or more creative than our competition, only more focused. Focus is powerful, but it is just the first step in building deep expertise. Other steps follow.

The Requirement to Write

Writing gets us found. Writing helps to cement our position as experts. Most important of all, writing about what we do is the fastest way to deepen our knowledge. Writing at length on our expertise drives us into the deep crevices of our territory. As focused experts, we benefit from repeated observation of the same challenges. Writing is the tool that helps us formalize our thinking on these observations. It forces us to tighten our arguments and therefore our understanding. Writing might not come naturally to us, it might be painful at times, but the rewards are significant and the exercise is mandatory. If we are to be experts we must write.

The skills we must possess or acquire in order to succeed in a differentiated creative enterprise are: consulting first, writing second, artistry third. The problem-seeing and problem-solving skills of the advisor, along with the ability to lead others through the engagement, trump everything else. Writing follows, for writing both proves and deepens our expertise. The artistry, increasingly, is the commodity. It is inexpensively acquired from those that neither have, nor attempt to cultivate, the first two skills. We must take control and we must write.

Formalizing How We Work

If we were paid to dig a ditch of a specified depth, width and length, our first attempt would be completed at quality X, in timeframe Y. If we were to dig a ditch of those same specifications every day, we can assume that the quality of our output would increase and the time required would decrease. Repeated observation and problem solving is bound to improve our quality and efficiency.

We can also reasonably assume that over time, through trial and error, we would happen upon an efficient approach that allows us to deliver at quality and speed with consistency. In almost any of our repeated endeavors, it is the strength of our processes that drives the consistency of our outcomes.

If we want to build deep expertise we must take pains to document how we work, to define how we will work in the future and to continuously refine and improve our approach. Working from a defined process leads to the very consistency of quality that a potential client tries to discern late in the buying cycle, when our role is to reassure. Nothing reassures the client more than him drawing the powerful inference that little variability in process equals little variability in outcomes. Every one of the firms he is considering can demonstrate an ability to do great work, but the question he wants answered before he buys is: “How do I know I’m going to get their best work?” When we are able to demonstrate strong processes, the client can decide for himself the implications of our processes on the consistency of our quality.

Training and Empowering

If we have no meaningfully defined processes, then there is not much to train our people on. But once we commit to defining and improving how we work, then we must commit to training our people on such methods.

Training and other forms of individual professional development are vital, for a creative firm either has a culture of continuous learning or it does not. We must make the commitment that in our firm all our people will feel compelled to keep up with their associates and excel past our competitors. When our new employees come to work for us they must feel as though the learning never ends and the pace of learning never lessens. We race together.

We build a culture of continuous learning by hiring for skill, by developing it through training, by empowering our people to form their own professional development plans that we will approve and fund, by holding them accountable to these plans, and, most importantly, by leading with our own example. We go first, and set the example of pace and determination required to be part of our enterprise.