Written by Andrew Holliday | April 13, 2016
Do you sell a range of services to a few big-name clients, or do you sell a few services to a lot of clients? Which do you think is the healthier option for a business?
The correct answer is without a doubt selling a few services to a lot of clients.
Many service businesses are stuck in the cycle of selling to a few large clients. To compound things, you’re delivering services which may take a long time to complete and don’t get paid until the project is finished. This creates huge cashflow headaches.
If one of those big clients then goes away, that headache becomes a nightmare. You’re basically one client breakup call away from disaster.
How do you change course if you’re headed down this path?
Diversify your customer base while simplifying your service offerings. Figure out what you do best. Not what you do okay, decent or mediocre, but the areas where you truly excel. Focus on something your clients value greatly and make sure it’s something your employees can learn to deliver. When you find the sweet spot of where the three circles of what you do well, what your clients value and what is teachable all overlap, that’s where you focus your energy.
Not only will this relieve stress, but it will turn you into a real business. A real business is more than just a job you own. A real business can scale. Selling a few services to a lot of people using repeatable systems will unlock your potential and start to generate cash flow. You’ll be able to show any qualified employee how to deliver the service, you can charge for services up front (at least 50%) and you’ll be able to establish a marketing funnel to bring in significantly more prospects.
With a focused message, it’s much easier to market yourself. You’re not trying to talk about ten different services. You can focus in on the few key services you previously identified and bring in prospects who are a great fit. You become perceived as an expert in specific areas as opposed to a generalist.
If you’re having brain surgery, would you go to a brain surgeon or a general practitioner?
Exactly! Specializing has its benefits.
The end benefit is that you’ll be able to have large clients, small clients and medium clients all in your client portfolio. It’s great to have a diversified mix just like in an investment portfolio. If any one sector gets hit hard, you have another group there to balance things out and keep your business stable.
Action Steps:
- Evaluate your services to find what you do well, what your clients value and what is teachable to employees.
- Focus your efforts on the identified services and become a specialist.
- Build a marketing funnel to bring in more prospects (give us a call if you need help here).
