(I wanted to give people a sneak peek at my book, Staring Down the Elephant. The introduction features 5 tips for dealing with each of the key players in our business lives. Having covered off the jungle, now we begin to examine what critical factors reside in the entrepreneur themselves. I look forward to your feedback! )
Rule of the Entrepreneur #3
People deal with people who make it easy for them.
Very simple. Don’t make it hard for people to deal with you! Extra steps, forms, bureaucracy and the like create tension for you customers. So does inattentiveness, lack of followup, and not keeping your word.
For a lot of us, these little details are the bane of our existence. A lot of your customers feel exactly the same way! It’s a good idea to look over your procedures and work flow at least annually to make sure that every step in your process is needed.
Another key point here is to build systems around follow up and commitments you make to your clients. Even tiny things followed up on effectively create huge opportunities to wow people and change buyers into raving fans.
Rule of the Entrepreneur #4
You’re not trying to do business with everyone.
We see this one a lot. Some entrepreneurs, when asked about themselves and who their best client is, will tell you happily how everyone can use the service or product they provide and that you should tell everybody you know about them. That’s a pretty tall order!
Our minds are funny in that they can only really focus in on one thing at a time. “Everyone I know” is simply too big, so I get an error message. That will tend to breed responses something like “I’ll see what I can do” or “I’m not sure I am comfortable giving you the referral”.
The other thing that happens is even if the person being talked to fits into the target group, they don’t feel very exclusive in such a big group! The more narrow a niche is, the more exclusive it is and the more likely that members of that group will pay attention and want to do business with you.
For example, try “Truthfully, almost anyone can use my service. However, I do most of my best work with white collar professionals like lawyers and accountants.” See how being specific gives a much clearer picture of what you are looking for?
Great reminder Andy. I am now thinking about a niche client for me and it is tough to nail down.
It is tough to trim your niche down, and often feels like you are leaving business behind. I promise you that being exclusive to certain clients works like crazy!