It’s not uncommon for new business owners to feel a bit inferior when attempting to acquire new customers. This can often be linked to a limited amount of previous customer experiences, a small team, an unproven product, or a bevy of additional inhibitions. Such reservations can often lead to paralysis or even an avoidance of prominent customers in the marketplace. Even worse, one may aim low in pricing his or her services because of this. We must realize though, that “Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.”
I, myself, had apprehensions about writing this blog initially, because I wasn’t sure if what I was writing would resonate with readers. More specifically, I felt like what I was writing was simply a theoretical regurgitation of knowledge that I’ve read or learned from others. It wasn’t until I began to define my personal value before writing each new article that I began to move forward with far less friction.
For every limitation that we feel is present on the surface, it’s our responsibility to uncover the value below the surface that’s applicable to potential customers. It is in this value, when clearly and explicitly stated, that we build confidence, courage, and poise.
If you are currently experiencing any of the aforementioned doubts or reservations, a great place to start on your path of transformation is begin by writing down all of the valuable qualities that you offer any potential customer. These can be specific to you, your team, your products, experiences, or anything relevant that is beneficial to customers. If you’re having trouble defining these value points, I suggest that you take a look at my previous post about crafting selling points.
Once you’ve got a sufficient list, now it’s time to transform these points into simple language that applies to different categories of customers in your target demographic. When complete, these will be hypothetical customer profiles that make it easy for customers to quickly relate to the products and services that your company provides and to immediately extract the value as it applies to them.
Let me make this clearer. Think about your potential customers as fitting into buckets. Give each of them a persona. A colleague of mine, Coach Cass, does this beautifully. In essence, you want to define the common customer problems, needs, and desires that your company fulfills. Here are some examples:
- Anne Alpha is worried about cutting costs. Her top-line revenue is growing year over year, but her operational efficiency can be improved. My product helps Anne cut costs by…
- Bill Beta is noticing a higher than normal attrition rate within his business. He needs to improve employee morale and team-building in order to protect the investment he’s made in hiring great employees. My service helps Bill with improving retention by…
- Daisy Delta wants to wear make-up, but has sensitive skin. She avoids wearing foundation and only applies concealer. My makeup foundation will work for Daisy because…
Taking this approach is an excellent way of quickly conveying your company’s value in a language that’s easy to understand when sending out marketing messaging. Use this on your website, within social media, on flyers and handouts, and any other place that prospective customers may be looking. This is also an excellent strategy when asking for referrals. It allows the referee to easily understand what type of people benefit from your company’s products and services.
So, go forth and define your value. Dig deep. No value point is meaningless if it is applicable to a customer. Don’t let the fear of an inferior product/service or the fear that “they don’t want this” stop you from soliciting business. Define your value in clear, applicable terms and you’ll have all of the motivation that you need to get more customers. Practice the exercise above each time you’re preparing for a meeting with a prospect client. In this, you’ll find your stride and you’ll no longer make excuses as to why you cannot win more business. You can and you will.
