This is the second of three posts in the Sales Simplicity Series which teaches simple sales strategy for business. Read the first post here.Your business is flourishing. You have a loyal customer base of raging fans, sales are up, the money is flowing, and your business is steadily growing.That’s the business owner’s dream, isn’t it?But that’s not what’s happening just yet, is it? At least not to the extent that you’d like.After all, we all want to improve. We want today’s results to be better than yesterday’s – and we want tomorrow’s results to be better than today’s.But it doesn’t always go that way. A lot of businesses struggle to grow and bring on new customers. If that describes you, then you need to know that there’s something you can do to about it.But first, let me ask you a question…If you had to name one factor in your market that, more than any other, inhibits your ability to sell more and grow… what would it be?Seriously take a moment and think of your answer.
It’s Not What You Think
If you really took the time to come up with an answer (and I hope you did), I would wager that you, like most people, probably answered with something related to a high level of competition.After all, it’s hard to name a business that isn’t faced with serious competition, right? Plus, it just makes sense that the number one thing that stands in the way of you selling more should be the fact that your prospect has many other choices when it comes to getting what they want or solving their problem.But what if I told you that competition is not the problem?(By the way… that is what I’m telling you.)
To Broadcast or Engage – That Is the Question
The real reason you’re not selling or growing more comes with some good news and some bad news. The good news is that it’s something you have complete control over – and therefore can change pretty easily. The bad news is that the real problem might be within you. Specifically, it could be the way you look at your business or your market.Switching from broadcasting to engagement will allow you to save time, money, and no small amount of frustration.So what is that problem? The real problem is targeting.When it comes to sales and marketing, most businesses do what I call spray and pray.That means they spray their messaging out to the world and hope it sticks with a certain number of people. And after they hope it sticks with a certain number, they have to pray that whatever that certain number of people is – that it’s enough to sustain their business.That’s no way to do business. At least it’s no way to do business successfully. Especially if you’re in an already crowded market space.It’s much faster, more cost-efficient, and less maddening to do the work and get to know your potential customer base intimately – and then specifically target them with messaging that will be meaningful and useful to them. That’s called target marketing.The primary difference between the two is focus.
Getting To Know the Right People
The questions you really need to ask yourself are: Who are you as a business and who are the right target customers for you?I know. As simple as those questions are, they’re tough to answer. It would be great if someone could just hand you the answer in a sealed envelope like on the Academy Awards – but that’s not the way this works.You’re the only one who can answer those questions, and doing so will take time and effort.So while no one but you can solve this puzzle, the first steps toward figuring it out are actually pretty easy. It all begins with focus.
Five Tips for Focused Sales and Marketing
Here are five tips that you can use to begin targeting the right potential customers for you.1: Adjust Your FocusThis simply means that you change the way you look at your targets. Start thinking about personally engaging specific groups of people with specific messages instead of broadcasting generically to the world. Your goal should be to attract only the people who will connect deeply with you and your business. You don’t need lukewarm well-wishers. You’re looking for raging fans.2: Grow Thick SkinWhen you begin focusing in on the right prospects and quit trying to please everyone, guess what happens? Some people aren’t going to like you, your business, or your products. No matter how nice you are or how stellar your work is, someone isn’t going to like it. And that’s fine.I’ve always said that if you went to the mall and started handing out $100 bills, someone would be mad about it. Accept that you’ll never please everyone and you’re well on your way to pleasing the right ones.3: Just Like In School: Don’t CopyBe careful that you don’t (even unintentionally) become a knock-off of someone else in your market. Pay attention to your competition, learn what you can from their successes – but be absolutely pig-headed about not copying their moves.Which would you be more likely to pay top dollar to see:
- Aerosmith or an Aerosmith tribute band?
- The original Mona Lisa or a copy of the Mona Lisa painted last year by some guy named Gus?
Copies are usually obvious – and are always less interesting than something original. If you do what everyone else does and you’ll be lost in a sea of sameness. Do something different and you stand out in a crowd and create a much more productive sales environment.4: Be Loud and ProudAround here, we call it authentic. You could also call it genuine or real. But whatever it is that makes you who you are – whatever makes your company and your offerings unique and different… that’s what makes you interesting. Don’t gloss over those things. Accentuate them. Quirks and all.Unique is memorable. Same is forgettable. Which would you rather to be?5: Market and Sell To Your Best CustomerWho is your most loyal customer or follower right now? I mean who really gets you and responds well to everything you put out into the world? That’s the person who you should use as a mental avatar when you’re creating new products, services, or messaging.Create offerings for and market to your one perfect customer. The odds are that the things that attracted that one perfect customer to you are the same types of things that will attract similar customers to you in the future.Bonus: Fish In a BarrelGo where your prospects like to be. Ok, so this is common sense. But it’s also something most businesses drop the ball on.Once you’ve defined your target customers, do some research and find out where they congregate. What do they read? What websites and forums do they frequent? Where do they shop? When you know those things, selling becomes much easier. For instance…Mailing coupons for baby formula to a nursing home or a monastery isn’t an efficient use of time, money, or resources. But putting those same coupons in the hands of a birthing coach or an OBGYN is brilliant.Make a list of places your target customers tend to be and you will have no shortage of ideas about how to market to them. In fact, when you understand who your targets are and where they tend to be, it becomes downright obvious.
Be A Discriminating Salesperson
People who don’t understand sales think that it’s a “take whatever you can get from whoever is willing to give it to you” type of proposition. That couldn’t be more off track. One-time sales won’t sustain your business. Raging fans who come back to you time and time again will.Put these five tips into action and start targeting the right prospects. Over time you’ll see the difference in your bottom line. Your Turn…In the comments, tell me who your target customer is, where they tend to hang out, and what you’ve done to reach them.
Next Up: The Only Way To Sell
In the next post in this series – you’ll learn about the most powerful way that anyone – even a non-salesperson can skyrockets sales. In the meantime, if I can be of assistance to you with your sales or marketing efforts, please feel free to contact me.
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