When clients come to me for small business advice, I like to look for self-imposed barriers – which are thoughts or beliefs that block you from seeing an opportunity.
A common example of a self-imposed barrier
The business owner is certain that they know their customers’ needs and frustrations. I often hear, “I have been in this business a long time. My customers and I know each other well. They know what I offer.”
This barrier is known as the Offerings Barrier. The business owner believes all their current customers are aware of every product or service that the business offers, but in reality, the customers do not.
Are you confident all your current customers are aware of your complete business offerings?
I would like to challenge that assumption and ask you to consider whether it could be a self-limiting belief. Or more descriptively – a sales-limiting belief!
To take your business to the next level:
Assemble a list of each type of product or service you provide. Survey your customers to ask what products and services you provide. Then, present your business offerings from the customer’s point of view by explaining which needs or frustrations your products or services address.
After speaking with as few as 5 current customers, I bet you’ll identify some unmet needs or frustrations. Educate those same loyal customers about how your services can help them, and I would be surprised if your survey didn’t convert into a sale. I have tried this on my own client base and I was surprised how few of my accounting clients knew of all the services we offer!
With a small investment of time, all business owners can look for ways to test the assumptions about customer needs by communicating with them directly.
What do you think might happen? Could you learn something new about your customer’s needs and frustrations? You won’t know for sure unless you start the conversation yourself with your customers.
Lift the sales-limiting beliefs from your business mindset and open up to potential sales to these customers. Let me know how it goes.
