Want to Convert More Prospects - Find a Niche…

In case you’re interested...

For more strategies on using LinkedIn to generate more business, grab a free copy of my book: It’s the road map to connecting with prospects, engaging with and converting new clients, and levelling up your consulting business. - Click Here

Let’s dive in….

You know when you’re talking to a prospect on the phone and you can just picture their face during an unexpected pause?

(Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay)

Yes, they’re hesitating…you know it but you don’t know why.

How can you get more prospects to this place…?

(Image by Mireia Pascual Molla from Pixabay)

The answer might be niching.

You may have already heard that it’s the way to go. But that was probably from marketers:

“Go deep before you go wide when defining your target audience.”

“Be a specialist rather than a generalist - then you can charge more.”

I wouldn’t argue with that at all.

But, as a guy with a sales background, I can tell you that niching is a brilliant sales conversion tool too.

Dealing with objections in the sales process

Say you’re a business coach targeting small business owners.

A general approach is to target all small businesses: from businesses as diverse as pool shop owners, retail outlets, hospitality businesses, marketing agencies, manufacturers, and so on.

If you “niche”, you only target accounting business owners, for example; no others.

Whoever your target market is, I can guarantee that one question will always come up during sales conversations with prospects.

Say you’re talking to a coffee shop owner, for instance.

(Image by JesseMcFly from Pixabay)

He’s really happy to speak to you as he has some problems with growing his business.

At some point early on, he’ll want to be sure that the person he’s talking to is really qualified to work with him. After all, in his mind he has a unique business, different to all the others out there.

The inevitable question will come up:

“By the way, how many other coffee shop owners have you worked with?”

Most business coaches, with a one-to-one business model and targeting a wide range of small business owners, will work with 10-12 clients at a time. They will have worked with 30-40 clients over the past 2-3 years.

The problem is that they don’t have any evidence to show that they’ve worked with similar businesses to coffee shops.

It then becomes very difficult to overcome the doubt in the coffee shop owner’s mind.

You say:

“I’m not working with anyone at the moment but…”

All of a sudden you’ve gone from an expert to a generalist in the prospect’s mind.

Your prospect says:

“I need to think about it…”

You’re shot in the foot.

And they probably won’t tell you the reason why they’re hesitating.

The hidden power of niching

If, as a business coach, you exclusively coach coffee shop owners, every conversation you have from a sales preparation point of view is going to cover the same ground.

You’re going to be dealing with the same objections; the same ideas of growth; the same issues faced by prospects day-in day-out.

(Image by Free-Photos from Pixabay)

And when the owner turns to you and asks:

“By the way, have you worked with any other coffee shop owners?”

…your answer will be:

“Funny you mention that. I’m working with about 25-30 of them right now! What specifically would you like to know?”

When they come back at you with a specific question, you can answer:

“Well, a few clients just asked me that last week and this is what I said to them… (insert piece of advice) …if that helped them, do you think it could potentially help you?”

“Well…yep”

BAM! You’ve got them!

Why you can charge more when you niche

Compare the sales conversation of a true specialist business coach to a generalist.

This is precisely why you can charge more as an expert rather than a generalist.

Not only do you appear to be the expert on their subject but you have the recent contemporary experience to:

·        Answer their questions

·        Overcome their objections

·        Stand in a position of authority

Marketers are right about niching. It does help attract the right people to you. It does create a powerful first impression. And you can charge more.

But it also helps you tighten up your sales process so that it’s easier to overcome objections.

It actually helps convert prospects during sales conversations.

So, find your niche and you’ll not only win more qualified prospects; you’ll convert more into paying clients.

P.s. Whenever you’re ready… here are 3 ways I can help you grow your business with LinkedIn

1. Join the Influencer Boardroom and connect with other advisors and consultants who are scaling too: It’s our new Facebook community where smart advisors and consultants learn to generate more purpose, profit and power. - Click Here

2. Join Our Implementation Program and be a Case Study: I’m putting together a new consulting case study group inside The Influencer Project this month… stay tuned for details. If you’d like to work with me on your client-getting and business growth plans using LinkedIn… just send me a message and put “Case Study” in it and I’ll get you more info.

3. Work with me and my team privately: If you’d like to work directly with me and my team to take you from 6 to 7 figures and level things up… just send me a message and put “Private” in the first line… tell me a little about your business and what you’d like to work on together, and I’ll get you all the details.