A prospect that I was meeting with recently was lamenting that his sales funnel is suffering from serious constriction issues. “My team is sending out the direct mail, making calls and responding to RFPs, just like everyone else. We don’t seem to be able to differentiate ourselves,” he said.

Brand differentiation is exactly what gives people permission to buy your services or goods with confidence. Aristotle said we are what we do. It’s no different for business.

Southwest Airlines is selling freedom and Walt Disney imagination.

According to Roy Spencer Jr., author of the recently published book It’s Not What You Sell, It’s What You Stand For, the success of these businesses is rooted in their clearly articulated purpose.

Does your business have a unique purpose or service? Or as Spencer asks, “would your customers mind if you ceased to exist?” What ever that uniqueness is, it better be clearly articulated in your new business presentations.

In the short term what can we do to fill the sales funnel and create a personal point of differentiation? I offer this simple suggestion that helps you, your customers and gives something to those organizations that need you the most. Volunteer.

Volunteering with organizations puts you in touch with a new network of influencers. Volunteering is the original form of social media. It has been around long before LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter or any other social networking activities.

What volunteering does for you and your business is it creates a unique point of differentiation. It positions you in a totally different light. It is marketing 101. People buy from people, people they know. How many employees are in your organization, 2? 200? 2000? Imagine the networking potential if you started a workplace volunteer program. An article in the Minneapolis Business Journal on how to get a volunteer program started in your business is a great first step. Then fold your newfound network of contacts into your CRM program.

Aristotle was right. We are what we do. If we actively work to make our community better, it makes us better. It enriches us, our employees, our brands and quite likely our bottom line.