Business with Expertise
Prospective clients (whether it's reality or not) perceive their problems to be unique to them. If your prospects problems have been enduring, their perception of the problems is that it's complex - too complex for them to have fixed themselves in the interim.
Their logic therefore determines that they need someone with specialised skills and knowledge to help them overcome that problem. Someone with advanced skills and knowledge to their own. By your prospects reasoning therefore, a generalist will not be able to offer effective solutions to their specific (and complex) problems.
For Example:
One example of this 'need' for specialist knowledge can been found in coaches who work in the Real Estate Industry. Real Estate Agents (prospective clients) consider their field to be a specialised one, and when it comes to improving their skills in listing, selling and managing property they turn to coaches that position themselves as specialists to the Real Estate Industry.
Whilst you can:
- Focus your business in a niche area through your service offerings;
- Brand your business in a niche; and
- Articulate your offer through your USP;
As a coach you must also establish yourself as a specialist or expert in the niche. As much as you need to focus on building your business brand, you also need to concurrently build your personal brand as a specialist.
Only by establishing yourself as an expert will you build the necessary credibility to your brand and reinforce your niche positioning. If all these elements are not totally congruent, your offer will never be compelling to your prospects.
Your marketing message will seem confusing as your prospects will not understand how you can offer solutions to their niche problems - problems they may have been experiencing for some time and not been able to solve themselves - without being higher qualified or having specialised skills and experience (being an expert).
What are the benefits of establishing yourself as an expert in your niche? Being an expert or specialist in your niche affords you many benefits and competitive advantages including:
- As an expert you can market with dignity! You won't have to 'chase' clients. Clients will come looking for you because of your 'specialist' tag. Remember, clients are searching for someone who is perceived to be as knowledgeable and skilled as they are in their niche.
- There are substantially fewer barriers to conversion because your prospective clients are pre-sold by perceived knowledge and specialisation.
- Limiting the number of competitors you have because you are perceived as one of the few (perhaps only) coaches that can meet the clients unique needs.
- By default it gets you involved in industry events and networking opportunities. Your reputation as an 'expert' will endorse your business and vice versa;
- You can take advantage of powerful and highly leveraged marketing strategies such as publishing, public speaking, networking opportunities, joint ventures, referrals and endorsements.
- You get a much higher return on your marketing dollar, reducing your Client Cost of Acquisition, improving your bottom line net income (and breaking even earlier as a business start-up);
- You are able to build greater client loyalty which significantly increases your new client referrals, which in turn dramatically reduces your cost of client acquisition.
- You get a higher conversion rate to your services. Prospective clients are far more likely to trust and appreciate the wisdom and knowledge of a coaching specialist.
- The chance to better educate clients to the value you provide and charge fees based on the cost of the niche problems rather than on an hourly rate.
- You can expand your services from 1 to 1 coaching to include leveraged product based and 1 to many services. Due to your strong client rapport and expertise, your clients will have a greater propensity to take up your endorsed affiliate services;
As an expert in your niche, your service becomes the only logical choice for your prospects. What are you doing to establish yourself as an expert?
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