Ingredients: Better Service Package and Narrower Focus of Services

Another problem your research might uncover is that your service isn’t packaged in a way that prospects want to buy it. Developing a better service package could make what you offer more attractive. A marketing consultant who has been working on a project basis might find clients more receptive to a monthly retainer they can budget for. An interior designer encountering resistance to paying an hourly fee might instead raise his markup or commission on furnishings, and no longer charge by the hour at all.

Sometimes just naming your service package can make a difference. An image consultant might be much more successful selling the “One-Day Makeover” than suggesting to clients they buy six hours of her time to revamp their whole look. When doing your market research, try asking your prospects how they prefer to buy services like yours, and tailor your offering to their preferences.

One final roadblock you may be putting in your own way is offering too much. When someone asks exactly what it is that you do or specifically how you can help them, it really doesn’t work to say, “I can do pretty much anything in the area of [fill in the blank]. What do you need?” It may be absolutely true that you can do almost anything in your field of expertise, but people don’t buy “anything,” they buy something specific. It’s a rare prospect who will agree to meet with you just to share his problems and goals without knowing exactly what you are selling.

A narrower focus of services will allow prospects to have a better sense of how much they need you. It will also help them remember who you are. Having people know that you do “anything with computers” will not lead to many inquiries or referrals. If they think of you instead as the expert in accounting and financial management software, you could find a place in their contact database.

Just as with choosing a market niche, don’t worry that you are limiting yourself with this narrower focus. Once you are in conversation with a prospect, you can propose other services that are within your range of expertise. But you need the narrower focus to get their attention so you can have the conversation in the first place.