Who Do You Serve?
30 May, 2006 By: Jim Paluch LDB SolutionsWhen was the last time you went to a fast food restaurant for a great meal,
dressed in your best clothes, and ready to enjoy a wonderful evening of fine
dining and service? Have you ever stopped by a Morton's Steak House after the
Thursday evening softball league to grab a quick bite with you buddies? Both
scenarios are hard to imagine. Neither McDonald's nor Morton’s expect,
or even want, you to show up unless you are coming to buy what they offer.
They know their niches, and they work to serve them with everything from the
food they offer, to their employees, to their décor. Both companies'
intentional focus on serving their niches has made each company very successful.
How well do you and your company understand your niche? It is almost a guaranteed
strategy for failure if you are trying to be everything to everybody. When
a company is trying to serve high-end residential, low-budget spec homes, commercial
maintenance, residential plant healthcare, multi-family housing projects, college
campuses, bus stops, gutter cleaning, dog walking, baby sitting, chimney sweeping
and transmission repair … well, you get the picture ‑ it is confusing
and frustrating. Without focus, the customer is not sure what you do, the employees
are not sure what they will be doing on any given day, and your systems, purchasing,
billing and sales processes are so varied that you never really become great
at any of them. Over the years, I have watched significant success come to
those companies that made the declaration: "This is who we serve and we
will be the best in the world at it."
It may be risky at first, even a bit scary, but the results will come and
the success will grow.
Consider taking the following actions to help focus on your niche:
- Ask yourself, “What do I really enjoy doing?”
- Have the same conversation with your leaders to get their answers to that
question - Look at your financials and decide what you do that is most profitable
- Study and consider the trends. How can you be prepared to capitalize on
them?. - Look at the talent in your company. What could you be the best in the world
at doing?
Taking the steps to understand you niche could be the difference between mediocre
or tremendous success. It could help you take your company from just surviving
to a company that is thriving. It could be the difference in being able to
eat at Morton's instead of McDonald's.
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