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by Michael Harrison
In tough times it’s more important than ever to have some strategies to win business. Here are some that work.
Under-promise and over-deliver
Smart CEOs of listed companies have understood this for years. It enables them to go to shareholders for more capital when needed, secure better deals on bank loans and impress the stockmarket.
It’s a good lesson for all business owners and professionals. Under-promise and over-deliver.
This is particularly true at the point of customer or order acquisition: there’s a tendency, especially for new people to over promise. It can only bring grief and the very reason for winning new business is to establish a long term relationship, built on meeting expectations, not disappointing. Let others beat a path to the door; to stand out in a tough market requires grit, determination and real service, not promises.
Create Surprises: innovate!
In tough conditions, innovation is essential to stand apart. For a small operator, try a change of tack. Just as this is a powerful competitive weapon in yachting, so too can it be a winning formula in business.
Add features, products or new services - or even re-invent yourself. Examples include:
- Two takeaway chicken shops were operating down the street from each other. One created a point of difference by only selling free-range chickens. They repainted the shop in green and white, upgraded their salads and charged a little more. Profit increased.
- An architecture firm that normally accepts only high-end remodelling jobs positioned itself to do low budget renovations “with style”. They actually programmed projects to be done in modules so that each step cost less – the total cost actually increased and people love the idea of seeing one stage finished at a time.
- A gourmet restaurant reinvented itself as an informal, less expensive family eatery. Gourmet chefs can cost two or three times the cost of a barista. They survived the market downturn.
What can you do?
Niche Yourself
There are strong benefits in niche marketing. Rather than limiting the number of clients that will be drawn to you, marketing to a specific niche can actually bring you more clients. (Here I refer to a niche as a group of businesses with something in common.) It could be franchisees, plumbers, restaurants, or any number of businesses. Those within a niche market have similar desires and needs.
Let’s face it you can target everyone, but you can’t deliver. Niche marketing allows you to market to higher-end clients and helps you to find those more established businesses. For example, if you were targeting the hospitality industry, in particular high quality resorts, spas and the like, you would market your services in places where owners and managers are likely to find out about you. You might advertise or write articles in a local industry trade publications, which are always on the look out for subject matter experts and their opinions, views, insights.
Accounting, financial planning, architecture practices as well as the trades have ample opportunity to niche themselves. This does not mean discarding existing business, rather it means refocusing and positioning into a potentially profitable niche – and announcing it!
Sell, Sell, Sell!
No! It's not a dirty word.
The challenge for most “professionals” is their unwillingness to sell. It’s considered “unprofessional”. Strange; because in other countries such as USA, professionals are great self-prompters (in some places plastic surgeons take out billboards!). We’re not talking about spruiking the latest product or service offering but we are talking about adopting a more sales approach to business.
Think about the last time you were with a real sales professional. I bet it was an uncluttered, seamless discussion between equals. The salesperson had an agenda, questions prepared, supporting material and background information. It didn’t happen by accident.
A new initiative, a new (niche?) service offering is an opportunity to make contact with a customer. A sales process with a customer ensures all the right things happen, at the right time, every time, with minimal wasted effort and maximum benefit both to the customer and for you.
Timely follow-ups with your contacts as well as your current leads are critical if you want to be successful in tough market where it is a must to stand out in the crowd.
Michael Harrison is a consultant, marketer, and business generation specialist dedicated to assisting professional services businesses to grow and increase revenue, margins and profits. He can be contacted at Strategies Plus
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