A business with an established niche is always worth more
A business niche is, “something that prevents your competitors from competing directly on price.”
Recently we listed a business that had such a well established niche the owner claimed they were #1 on Google in the organic search results for about 1,000 phrases! Let me spell that out, one-thousand!
Now that’s a niche!
Your business needs to solve your customer’s problem in a way that’s so unique no one else can compete directly with you. In other words, if all of your business comes from filling out Requests For Proposal (RFP’s) you really need to figure out how to separate yourself.
Here are a few ways to help establish a niche for your business:
- Offer a Proprietary Product – If no one else sells what you sell then by definition they can’t compete directly on price. Consider creating self-labelled products.
- Offer “free”, additional, or follow-up service – In many industries a local business often competes with someone out of the area for a contract. If you’re the local business, be sure to include a 30, 90 and 180 day follow-up as part of your quote since the out-of-towner can’t afford to. Hire someone to call every customer after they received service to ensure they’re happy. How many businesses have done that for you? You can even use that time to gather testimonials and referrals.
- Offer a completely unique service – In one of my businesses we competed with large home improvement stores and our product was generally 4-6x more expensive than theirs. To set ourselves apart, we included our “Platinum Care Plan” for new customers which they could continue for up to 10 years for a monthly fee. We covered all maintenance, labor, parts, and even delivery for a fixed price they knew up-front. All things the big stores couldn’t do.
- Create a unique pricing structure – The best way to do this if often utilizing some form of flat-rate pricing. Remember how upset you were with your mechanic, plumber, or lawyer who quoted one price and sent a bill that was 4x higher? Show prospects that if they do business with you, that won’t happen.
- Use your marketing to develop a relationship – Whether you have a restaurant, wine store, or accounting practice, you need to use marketing that builds a relationship. Ever notice how every woman in America between 16 and 50 gets mailed a copy of the Victoria Secret’s magazine? Because of it, women regularly pay much more for their products. A cheaper way of building a relationship is through email marketing and social networking. If you don’t know how to do either, hire an expert. Email me for some suggestions.
If you really want to take the leap to becoming a GREAT business you need to find a niche in many areas of your business. In the business with the high Google rankings, the owner figured out how to create a niche in how they took a walk-in prospect and converted them to raving fans. None of his competitors do anything like it. That process includes how they talk to potential customers, what they offer them, and even how they quote service. He has a niche process within his overall business niche. That’s powerful!
Your action items this week are to write down the overall niche, sometimes called a Unique Selling Proposition, for your business. Then, pick just 1 of the 5 areas above and set a date on your calendar to implement it.
To your success,
Bryan Trilli
