3 Ways to Differentiate Your Fintech Company

Byline: Jen Hunsaker

The last time I went to a fintech conference—you know, pre-pandemic—I walked around the vendor booths for over an hour. I listened to sales pitches, collected brochures, and watched many companies try to explain their technology.

Many of them didn’t do it very well.
It was a shame because their logos looked great, their handouts were attractive and the entire presentation was very clean. However, no one stood out and many couldn’t effectively tell me what it is they sell and why it matters.

After the first half hour, all the companies started to blur together. They all sounded the same and looked the same.

So how do you make sure your company is memorable and stands out from the crowd?
It’s simple. You need to clearly tell your customers what you sell and why it matters.
Here are three ways to craft your sales pitch:

Figure out what makes you so special

When you think about your company’s or product’s origin story, you can probably find one thing that inspired you to build it. Maybe you saw a gap in the current offering of technologies and wanted to fill it.

This gap could be the start of your Unique Selling Proposition (USP)—the thing that you offer that no one else can.

A couple of important tips when determining your USP:

• It needs to focus on ONE thing. This is not the place to include a gigantic list of features.
• It needs to be customer-focused. Be very clear about who you’re selling to AND why they should spend their money with you. That “why” will usually center on a core value or pain point your customer has. Don’t use your USP to describe how awesome and smart you are.

Robinhood has a fantastic differentiator: investing is simple here.

They’ve focused on a common barrier for many potential investors—the stock market is complex and confusing. They offer their platform as a solution by simplifying the investing experience and opening it up to everyone.

Notice they don’t explain how it’s simple or why their technology is ground-breaking. They’ve kept their USP focused on the customer by selecting one common pain point and explaining why Robinhood is here to solve it all for them.

Don’t forget we’re human.

I know you’re in the business of selling tech and tech-centered solutions, but humans are still using your products. These humans may wear bank coats, CTO coats, or manager coats, but they are all PEOPLE.

Even when buying for their businesses, your clients need to be persuaded that you will fix their human problems like stressful workdays, time-consuming processes, or pressure to perform.

One easy way to do that in your messaging is to make sure you list a benefit for every feature.

Features will typically explain an aspect of your product or service. Benefits explain why it matters.

Need an example?

BlackLine has developed accounting software. It’s dry, but ital. Here’s their feature-benefit combo pulled from their white paper explaining why enterprises switch to BlackLine:

The feature: a single platform to bring together previously fragmented data and processes

The benefit: boost productivity and consistency.

Their white paper is full of headlines that combine features with real-world benefits.

Clarity over cleverness

Every industry has its own jargon, but using too much jargon quickly alienates customers, especially if you’re building new technology.

And then there are buzzword traps. Buzzwords like dynamic, unicorn, synergy or AI-powered can be marketing killers because they either carry no meaning or have lost all meaning from overuse.

Your best trick for describing your product and persuading your clients is clarity. People don’t want to feel like they’re being tricked or that you’re peddling mediocre products dressed in trendy language. Clarity communicates truthfulness and honesty.

I really like Ripple’s website. It’s clear. It uses industry jargon to target its specific audience (banks) but doesn’t overdo it.

Here’s their page and tagline for cross-border payments:

Tagline (not pictured): Settlement in seconds, not days

BONUS TIP: Save the details for later

All of these examples are great, but you may still be thinking that they don’t adequately describe the product or give clients the information they need to make a purchasing decision.

You’re right.

These tips will help your company stand out and attract new business. You’ll have plenty of time to prove your expertise and show off your product after you’ve garnered their interest.

There are lots of mediums you can use to answer specific questions and help your prospects fully vet your offering. You can save the details and specs for product pages, white papers, or discovery calls. Keep your initial pitch direct, focused, and clear.