How do I sell my product or service?

“How the heck do I sell these things?” The question hung in the air as the admission of weakness and lack of understanding had been made. Strangely, it carried a sense of relief and hope, which said, “I know this is a great idea and has great margins but now what?”

I responded with, “Simple. Define your customer. Let your customer set the price.”

The next 45 minutes were spent laying out the strategic plan for how this already successful business owner could launch a new product into the market. We laid out how he would define and find his customers. A few days later, there was another 45-minute meeting, where the entire marketing and sales plan was made and he was ready to launch his new business segment.

By the end of that year, he had 5 crews running and more sales than he knew what to do with.

Sure, I had laid out the plan. But please understand he executed it. He put the work in to make it successful.

Define Your Customer

Why is this important? In a word – Dog Food. You don’t market dog food to cat owners. Neither do you market dog toys to cat owners. They are completely different customers and even though they may care about the same things, they buy completely different products. So why spend your marketing dollars targeted at the wrong customer?

So many business owners have expressed to me about their star employee, “I wish I could clone so and so. They are rock stars! How can I find more like them?” It should be the same with customers. When you define exactly who your customer is you then can start the process of understanding what their needs and interests are. Who your customer is begins with the question:

Which customers do I get the best outcomes for?

Businesses leave hundreds of thousands of dollars on the table by not celebrating their customer. They ignore their customers’ success stories. That subject is beyond the scope of this article but keep this concept in mind.

Once you have identified your happiest customer you can then identify some attributes to determine why they are your best.

For me, I love working with business owners who have a strong work ethic, aren’t afraid to go all in on an idea, and have an unrelenting desire to learn.

Consequently, my marketing is targeting these attributes.

My favorite way to find customers is to find out who serves them the most.

One year around the holidays a salesman for a roofing contractor in Austin, TX approached me and in exasperation said, “I’m done working for other people. I want to start my own business.” After several meetings and a lot of work we launched his roofing company for the first of the year and he exited his W-2 job.

That first year had fewer storms than any other year and he cleared nearly $500,000. In case you didn’t know, roofers only work when there are problems. Storms create problems. So, with no normal work season, we pivoted his marketing and starting asking who serves his customers. Real Estate Agents, Lawyers, HOAs, and the list grew.

We pivoted his marketing and starting asking who serves his customers.

All of these are great ideas, but all had a little too much competition already. We settled on a grass roots movement to get onto as many neighborhood apps as possible so he became the go to person for any issues. This was all championed by customers, which we provided excellent service to. This powerful marketing tactic allowed his business to thrive when others were suffering and laying people off.

Define your best customer. Use data to back this up.

As the Question: Who do I get the best results for?

Target specific customer attributes.

Find out where your customer are or who serves them. It only takes a few solid connections to create rapid growth opportunity for your business.

Go market where your customers are and where those who serve them are.

Sales will have to wait for Part 2.