Small Business Advice: Is Your Product Or Service Enticing

One question I often get from small business owners is "How do I get people to buy my stuff?" I'll admit the phrase "getting people to buy" makes me squirm a bit as it seems to suggest pushing products on potential customers when the opposite should be true.

Customers should be attracted to what you offer and should be coming your way checking out your products and services.One thing to keep in mind is that people buy when they're ready to buy and not necessarily when you're ready to sell. That said, there are a few things that make products and services enticing.

Ask before creating

First, it is a mistake to create a product or service before asking potential clients what they want. "Build it and they will come" only works in the movies. :-) Many self-employed people make this mistake (myself included in my early days). Now this doesn't mean you have to launch into a giant market research project. It can be as simple as getting 10-20 people who may qualify as your ideal client and having a quick teleseminar, Q&A, etc. It can even be a simple email survey using www.surveymonkey.com.

Your goal is to find out the real problems you can solve for people in your area of expertise and focus your product or service on what you hear. Resist the urge to create something you're passionate about. Instead, ask your potential clients what would be valuable to them. The answers may at times surprise you. When you create what people ask for, the end result is naturally enticing.

Generalists are less enticing

When you query your clients and customers for the problems they're having in your area of expertise, be prepared to hear some things aren't necessarily the focus of your business. It's important to stay focused. If you try to address all of the problems for everyone, you dilute the power of your product or service. Your goal is to stay specialized and niched. You want to be an expert in your field and if you try to be all things to all people, you dilute your expertise.

Expertise is enticing. You won't go to a general doctor for a heart problem. You'll seek out a heart specialist. And so it is in business. You want to position yourself as the expert in your field and narrowing your focus builds your expertise and makes your product/service more attractive. So think about your #1 area of expertise and stick to it. Resist the urge to be all things to all people. Generalists are less attractive.

Results sell

When you talk or write about your product our service, the features aren't what's important to prospects. Focus on describing the results people will achieve with your product/service. Tune into channel WIIFM (what's in it for me) and tell potential customers exactly what they'll experience with your product. What problem will go away? What are they likely to achieve? How soon will they achieve it? When your product description is results-focused, it becomes far more enticing to your potential buyer.