So are you very focused on the main thing, or are you a little more scattered in general? Hi my name is Bernie Heine, and I want today a little about the power of focus.
Why Focus is Important
Talking about focus on the core things really matter most to your business.A lot of entrepreneurs think “well, if I to narrowly define my business, I’m going to miss out on all kinds of opportunities that are right and left of where I, and therefore my business will get smaller.” Well the truth is actually the more I focus my business on one or a few small niches, the more I’m considered in the industry as an expert. The more I’m an expert, well the more I can actually charge for what I do.
Be a Boutique Rather Than a Department Store
Think about the difference between a department store and a boutique. Boutiques tend to have higher prices. We expect when we walk into a boutique that it’s going to be more expensive, but what do you also expect? Well, you expect the salesperson to be very knowledgeable. If you go into a department store, you expect they know something about their products, but you’re not really expecting them to be super knowledgeable. But in a boutique, you expect them to know why about the product and be able to help you in very unique ways. So when we’re in business, think about the same way. If if I’m very very broad, I can expect to get very high margins for my products, but I find that that industry expert people come to charge more, so I can work less and make more.
Also by being more the expert, you can focus your marketing communications to be more targeted so that it’s more relevant to your target audience. So we want to talk about things that benefit our target market and when we’re narrowly focused, we can say things that really bring them in. They can actually see themselves in your marketing communications, and that drives higher loyalty towards your solutions versus your competitors. And in those communications, we can talk about the benefits. And the benefits are those things which are usually not even on the invoice.
Think About the Benefits your Product Offers
Think about when you sell your product, your company doesn’t really want to buy what you sell, they want to get the benefits from what that product delivers. So on my invoices as it says business coaching, but clients don’t really want business coaching. What they want is the benefits that the coaching brings them. So I help them talk through difficult ideas that they might have or situations that they’re involved in or work with the helping them improve their businesses, or helping them improve their relationships with their employees. Those are the things that they get as benefits from working with me but that’s not what it says on the invoice. So in our marketing communications we want to focus those concepts on the benefits that we bring and this idea of focusing into a niche allows us call out those benefits much easier than if we’re just broad brush and do work with everybody.
So let me leave you with a few questions. Are you now narrowly enough focused to be able to get some of those benefits? Or are you diluting your efforts and trying to be too broad/trying to be all things to all people? I encourage you to take the approach of being everything to a few people and really helping them as an expert in your field.
About Bernhard Heine
Bernhard Heine is a business and executive coach at Professional Business Coaches, Inc. (PBC, Inc.), a company he founded to help business owners and leaders create and achieve their vision. Bernhard has more than 25 years of experience working collaboratively with business partners in all phases of business management, restructuring and transformation, particularly in: strategic planning, marketing and sales, organizational design, engineering consulting, project management, coaching and facilitation.
Bernhard holds a BS in marine engineering from the US Merchant Marine Academy in NY. He also holds an MBA from Harvard Business School and is a licensed business coach with Professional Business Coaches Alliance (PBCA), and an Authorized Client Builder Sales Trainer.
He was Executive Director for Strategy and Business Development at Textron Inc., strategy leader at Coca-Cola in Germany, and management consultant with the Boston Consulting Group. Early in his career, he worked globally as a marine engineer.
Bernhard has also achieved the “Master Coach” designation from the PBCA in Sales, Coaching, Leadership, Marketing, Personal Effectiveness, and Exit Planning.
“I help my clients become more self-aware of why their issues continue to occur and why their prior efforts have not led to success. Through regular sessions, holding them accountable for their actions, they make gradual improvements and over time achieve the success they are looking for.” – Bernhard Heine
Certifications: Professional Business Master Coach, Legal Practice Coach, Extended DISC Trainer, Everything DiSC Trainer, Client Builder Sales Trainer, Five Behaviors of a Cohesive Team Trainer.
