All Things to All People

If you have a product that you market as PERFECT for all people from all walks of life, you probably have a product that isn’t selling as much as you want.

I was at a conference recently and the stated goal was to have the product in use by every person in the US --- over 300 Million people.

WOW! Talk about a Big Hairy Audacious Goal.

My question – is it possible?

My second question – Does that goal help your sales force?

I get it --- some people are prone to hyperbole, and will share giant visions to paint a giant picture.

However, the companies with the greatest success have a clear focus on who they are, what they sell and who their product appeals to most. That clarity helps people know who to talk to – targeting their prospects with almost laser precision.

Think about it like this – if you have a great skin care product that will help anyone over the age of 20 to have a more youthful look, are you going to target 22-year-old men or are you going to focus on women over the age of 30?

I know what I would do -- target the ones that have shown the highest likelihood of making that purchase decision.

Of course, you may find a few men that want to purchase, and you may have a few younger women as well. But the time you have available is probably going to be used talking with the women who have proven over time to be the ones looking for, and willing to spend money on, a product like yours.

Right?

I am a huge fan of focus!

Know WHO you are

Know WHAT your product provides and why it is unique.

Know WHO your primary prospects are.

This amount of clarity allows your widespread sales force to maximize their time and have the highest success rate.

It also allows you to create precise messaging and tools that appeals to that audience.

Very often, I work with companies that have allowed their messaging to drift – lacking clarity and not focused on telling a precise story. It is natural. As companies grow and age, they get pulled in a lot of directions. Field leaders are pretty convincing and when they encourage the owners / leaders of the company to tweak and adjust their messaging so they can attract a new group, often, all they are doing is diluting their story and allowing drift to happen.

Keep in mind, people get bored. Telling the same successful story over and over can become monotonous. And, as they repeat the story / message for the 1000th time, it feels stale – to them.

It is NOT stale to the person hearing it for the first time. It is only stale and boring to the person telling the story.

Can you imagine going to a concert of your favorite music group and NOT hearing their greatest hits? The group has played those songs 10’s of thousands of times. But, to you, it is exactly what you want to hear. I assure you, they are sick of it. But, their feelings don’t matter. What matters is YOU, the customer. The group understands that they have to find a way to make it fun for you. Maybe it is solely because you paid a lot of money to be there. Maybe it is playing to see the smiles and arms waving in the audience. Whatever it is, they do it EVERY TIME. Because, it makes YOU happy and more willing to pay money to them again in the future.

If it helps – think of yourself as the rock star. You know you want to.

Play the hits.

Do it GREAT.

EVERY. SINGLE. TIME.