Modest Success Habit #4 – Selling to Everyone

This is habit number 4 in the series, The 7 Habits of Modestly Successful Entrepreneurs, following: 1) selling time for money, 2) working too hard, and 3) relying too much on data. These habits are the things that keep business success at a modest level.  Implementing business strategies to break these habits can propel entrepreneurs to phenomenal success.

Everyone is proud of the products or services they provide and thinks that everyone can benefit from using them.  This may be true, but in a world of finite resources, selling to everyone can present a real challenge to business growth.

Modest Success Habit #4 – Selling to Everyone

Most people have heard the advice around picking a niche market to focus on, but why is that advice routinely not followed.  Largely, because selling to everyone plays to some common fears held by many new entrepreneurs.

• Not enough people to sell to – Many entrepreneurs fear that they won’t have enough people to sell to if they focus on just one niche.  This is often a by product of the analysis often done in business planning where one sizes the market and then determines a reasonable share that can be acquired.  This reveals an estimated growth potential for the business.  People are lulled into believing that the larger the market the greater the opportunity.

• Leaving money on the table – When you do establish a well defined target market, inevitably an opportunity will come along to sell to someone outside of that market.  No budding entrepreneurs wants to turn down an interested prospect so valuable time is spent chasing money opportunities versus selectively pursuing clients, and  – yes – occasionally declining to serve a particular client.

The drawbacks of selling to everyone

There are, of course, several drawbacks to the habit of selling to everyone.

• Message speaks to no one – One size fits all works with very few things and in sales and marketing it works with virtually no one.  The best sales and marketing efforts are designed to address the specific needs of the customer.  They do not just focus on the features and benefits of the product or service.  It is practically impossible to write a compelling marketing message that effectively speaks to the problems on multiple audiences at once.

• Too much work for too little return – With only a finite amount of time and dollars, but mostly time, it is not reasonable to expect to be able to establish a quality reputation and deep enough relationships necessary to have an impact in the marketplace.  If customers must be touched 3-6 times before they buy, there isn’t enough time available to provide enough contact to everyone.  The result is lots of effort and very little buying.

• High opportunity costs – If large amounts of time are being spent reacting to anyone interested and trying to sell to everyone who could potentially be a prospect, there is a good chance other areas of the business are being neglected.

Using niche strategy to yield results

There really is only one strategy, in multiple forms, to breaking this habit. Pick a niche and follow three steps:

1. Create a detailed profile – Get very specific about the details of the niche – the thought process, buying habits, frustrations, motivation, language, etc.
2. Address their pain – Determine exactly how you offering addresses their pain and what things will be like for them after it is alleviated with your solution.
3. Become known as the expert – All of your sales, marketing and networking activities should position you as an expert in the niche, not necessary in your products or service.  People want to buy from people they respect and trust.  Your product or service just becomes the vehicle you use to solve their problems

If you really do have a product or service that appeals to a wider audience, just repeat these steps in other niches once you have the capacity. Just don’t try to address multiple audiences with the same message.

Remember the words of Bill Cosby, “I don’t know the key to success, but the key to failure is trying to please everybody.”

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Tags: 7 habits, Business success, Cecilia Edwards, Successful Entrepreneur