Weekly Question: "I Have An Awesome Service, But No One Seems To Buy It?"

"I have such an awesome product/service, but no one seems to be biting, what am I doing wrong?" 

Many entrepreneurs struggle with this (literally) million-dollar question. 

The question is complex and extremely shallow. 

What we need to do in this case is to break it down. 

• How do you know that your product and service is so good? 
• Did someone tell you? Are you assuming? Who told you? Where are you getting your information from? 
• Who is this product targeted to? 
• Are you putting it in front of the right people? 
• How are you marketing it? 
• Is the messaging around the product confusing or is it clear?

There are more questions to ask, but these are the general ones. 

Let's work through them: 

1. How To Know If Your Product/Service Is Excellent. 

A product or service that is deemed excellent is based on several components. Some of these include your competency levels, what you bring to the table regarding how you deliver the product and service, your experience, background, and even your attitude. Your attitude will play a major role because people like to do business with people that they know, like, and trust, and people are loyal and wish to have continued business with people who are pleasant and easy to work with. That being said, what is the superb quality of experience associated with your product and service?

2. Who is giving you feedback?

At the entrance of a town I often visit, there is a major billboard highlighting the #1 Realtor in town. I was curious so I did my research "Who awarded this guy the title of #1 Realtor?" - The title comes with the most number of properties sold in the area. However, upon digging deeper, it has been discovered that there are several Real Estate agents working under the person and cumulatively they sell a lot of properties. Meaning, it's not that HE'S number 1 - cumulatively his team is number 1. Turns out that the person is saying that his service is so awesome, but that's not the reality of what is happening. 

3. Who is your target? 

The target is the people who will benefit most from your product or service. A common misconception is that many entrepreneurs say "everyone" - well that's confusing. Perhaps it's true that your product or service can benefit many, however, when you are sending the message of your product, the more general, the more confusing it gets. 

For example (and I struggled with this for a very long time): 

I do business strategy for entrepreneurs and business owners with a team of 10-100 people. 

Can you think of anyone in your network that you'd like to refer to me? 

How about this? 

I help Real Estate Brokerage firms with 10-100 agents 10x their commission revenues and retain their Real Estate Agents long-term.

Now can you think of someone you can refer me to? 

Nothing changed from the messaging - it's just that I helped you narrow down who you can refer me to. I clarified the message. 

We will discuss the issue of why people generalize in another post. For now, let's discuss that niching your services down and clarifying your message, will help people better understand how to refer business to you. 

Weekly Challenge:

1. Honestly assess your product and service
2. Give incredible service and be committed to excellence (be willing to do what others in your industry/market are not willing to do) 
3. Clearly define your people and how you market your services

 
Please feel welcome to share your thoughts on the LinkedIn Post