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Don't Try to be Everything to Everyone . . .

Written by: Sandy Schussel

Article Overview: Being a specialist not only attracts your ideal client, it actually attracts people from other walks of life, as well.

Don't Try to be Everything to Everyone . . .

If You're Everything to Everyone . . . You Won't Be Hired

In just about every workshop I do, I talk about the three things anyone offering a service needs to know about his or her practice or business: (1) What are you offering/selling (2) To whom are you offering it, and (3) Why will they buy it from you.

In this article, I’d like to address the second point: To whom are you offering/selling your services?

Become a Specialist

The wrong answer to this question is "I offer my services to everyone." Lawyers who tell me they are general practitioners, financial advisors and coaches who tell me that they help (all) people reach (all of) their personal, career or financial goals, and entrepreneurs who tell me that just about anyone can use their services, do not understand a critical truth about 21st Century business-clients want to work with experts and specialists.

If I want a lawyer to handle a real estate matter, and the cost isn't significantly different to me, would I prefer a "real estate specialist" or a lawyer who happens to do real estate among other things? The answer should be obvious. Both attorneys may have the same training and background-they may even have the same experience in real estate-but one has narrowed his target and focus to make himself more appealing.

"But if I limit myself to my senior market," Tina, a financial advisor, complained when I introduced this concept at a recent seminar, "I'll turn off some younger people who might have wanted to use my services."

Limit Your Target, Not Your Services

I asked Tina to trust in what I was saying and to try it. A week later she called me, excited by her results. "Sandy, I tried what you suggested at a party last week and it worked, but I think it worked backwards," she exclaimed.

"I told a guy who was in his mid-thirties like I am that I help older, single women who are worried about whether they'll have enough money to last through their retirement years . . . and he asked me if I would make an exception to help him. He just hired me."

"Tina, that isn't backwards," I told her. "That's how it works."

Being a specialist not only attracts your ideal client, it actually attracts people from other walks of life, as well. I offer my assistance to anyone selling a service who wants more clients. When someone who does not fit my marketing profile asks for my help, I only refuse him or her if I think there may be someone who will do a better job.

So, along with owners of service businesses and their sales and marketing teams, I'm coaching managers who are climbing the corporate ladder and IT professionals who are looking for a permanent position. I'm even working with an entertainer who is breaking into her newly chosen field after a first career. I'm an expert in the problems of people who are struggling to grow their businesses or practices, but I'll help anyone who is serious about making his or her life or career better.

When someone asks you "what do YOU do?" don't be afraid to identify your favorite clients or work. It will help make you stand out from the crowd.

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Article Tags: attorneys, business clients, century business, enough money, estate matter, financial advisors, financial goals, general practitioners, lawyer, lawyers, mid thirties, personal career, real estate, retirement, single women, target, tina, truth about, wrong answer



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