In 2017, focusing on solving your client’s problems, rather than selling your services, is marketing 101. In fact, I’ve written previously about focusing on the client experience, rather than your services.
The truth is that putting your clients first is central to the success of your financial planning outfit. Likewise, taking a client-first approach is essential when you’re considering expanding into new products or markets.
Starting point – is there demand?
It might sound evidentiary, but determining whether there is demand for your new offering is always the starting point. History is littered with examples of products and services that sounded great on paper yet failed to excite the market.
The first question you should ask yourself is: What client pain points, or issues, does a new service solve? Research can help, as can testing it in a safe environment with a strong current client to gauge their opinion. I’m fortunate to have some valuable clients who won’t hesitate to tell me that I’m barking up the wrong tree with a new content offering. At the end of the day, if the product or service doesn’t solve your clients’ needs, it will undoubtedly bomb.
Develop for the client…not for you
Don’t make the mistake of introducing a new offering that you’ve built to suit your business, rather than the clients you’re targeting.
The best example of this error comes from the car-manufacturing sector. Many manufacturers continue to operate on the basis that they know better than motorists. Enormous amounts of money are squandered on product development, which includes finetuning an offering to within an inch of its life. As a result, in specific situations, some of the world’s most successful marques fail to sell many Thunderbirds, Crossfires and so on. The lesson is that creating a product and then trying to find a market as an afterthought is a flawed strategy. A better strategy involves finding a client first, and then building some services to meet their needs.
Think big…but don’t destroy what you’ve already got
A prominent US identity once wrote that “thinking big” is crucial in business. The same applies to launching a new service that is affixed with aspirations to dominate the market. The challenge for most small and medium-sized businesses when launching new offerings is to avoid diluting or cannibalising existing business. Otherwise, a new offering may scupper the ship.
