1. Thinking Everyone is Your Customer
Seth Godin reminds us that ‘Everyone is not your Customer.’ We can often resist honing our niche for fear of missing out on reaching a customer but in fact the opposite happens. As you talk to everyone, your message of mass appeal is actually reaching and resonating with no one. Your people, your tribe, will identify with you, once you speak to them and only them.
Seth Godin reminds us that ‘Everyone is not your Customer.’ We can often resist honing our niche for fear of missing out on reaching a customer but in fact the opposite happens. As you talk to everyone, your message of mass appeal is actually reaching and resonating with no one. Your people, your tribe, will identify with you, once you speak to them and only them.
Get clear on your niche and speak directly to them.
2. Offering What You Think Your Client Wants
It’s easy to
get caught up in our work, doing what we love. It can be just as easy to
forget if we are truly servicing those that need what we have to offer.
Often we think we know what our ideal client needs, and perhaps we do,
at one point in time. Needs change, people change and experiences
evolve. Have you asked lately what it is your audience needs most
support with?
Check in with your client base and ask them what it is they need help with.
3. Giving Everything Plus the Kitchen Sink
As heart
centered entrepreneurs, we are here to help others and intentionally
make a positive difference. Sometimes, especially when we are starting
out, this can translate into packing as much of what we perceive to be
‘value’ into our offering or package. This does not serve you, or your
client. They become overwhelmed and end up implementing less and you
become frustrated and exhausted.
Less, in this case, is more.
4. Speaking a Language Nobody Understands
When it comes
to sales, many of us change our messaging, our communication style and
our language choice. We get uncomfortable in sales territory and start
using trendy buzzwords that really don’t resonate or align with our
work, or what we represent. When in doubt use a script. I get this. But
it’s also a big mistake. Your prospects want to hear from you, recognise
you, not a pushy sales voice that feels ick.
Stick to speaking the way you normally do and focus on real conversations instead of trying to convert your prospect.
5. Using a Weak Business Model
Your business
model is the process of how you deliver your value, your services and
get paid in return for it. It’s the architecture and the foundation of
your business. Just like building a house, strong foundations guarantee
the stability and sound structure of your business. Trading dollars for
hours is not necessarily the best use of your time, or indeed the best
way to get results for your clients.
Create profitable packages that attract the right clients for you and deliver solutions and outcomes for your client.
6. Hanging Out in the Wrong Places
It can be so
tempting to stay social (in the name of research or business
development!) and thanks to Facebook groups, Instagram, Pinterest,
Twitter and more, get sucked into a vortex, stealing more precious
hours. There is a time for being social for sure, but ask yourself, ‘how
much of my time on social media has actually generated leads?’
If social media is not building your brand, credibility or generating leads, it’s time to shake up your strategy.
7. Charging The Going Rate
Let me ask you,
if the going rate in your industry dropped tomorrow by 30 percent,
would your business be able to survive? If you’re pricing is positioned
purely on the going rate it’s highly unlikely. Pricing is the pulse, the
heartbeat of your business. Without profit, you have no business.
Finger in the air pricing policies are not sustainable or indeed
profitable. Factors to consider include the value you deliver, market
demand, your experience, confidence and ‘feel good’ factor and of course
costs and profit margins.
Pricing encompasses many variables so take a holistic approach when pricing your work.
8. Keeping Busy in your Business
Busyness is not
effective or efficient and it’s not helping your business. It also
breeds procrastination and subsequently to-do lists start doubling in
size before our eyes! The Eisenhower Urgent versus Important Matrix is a
great tool to help with time management.
Half of our
important things are based on someone else’s needs. The urgent tasks are
the ones that impact you. These are the ones that need to be
prioritized.
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