WE ARE NOT FOR EVERYONE. This is a central tenet of Pink Goldfish strategy. It was also the “Aha” moment that Steven Knight of Mosaic Home Services Ltd. took away from a Pink program with David Rendall.
In a recent Inc. Magazine article (see link in the comments), Steven recounts the experience:
“Until I heard David Rendall’s talk, I made the same mistake many entrepreneurs in various industries make: They don’t narrowly define their core customer.
Digging deeper, I realized that my core customer is homeowners. I always thought, ‘A homeowner is a homeowner, right?’
Wrong.
The single mother of two hiring a plumber to fix a leaky tap on a Saturday morning has very different expectations, purchasing behaviors, and budgets than the family who hires that same plumber to remodel one of their six bathrooms. Once I looked deeper into the market and analyzed our customer data, I was amazed at what I learned.”
Armed with this insight, Steven charted a new course:
“That’s when my partners and I implemented a new campaign with our marketing, sales, and customer service teams:
‘We’re not for everyone.’
When we introduced that concept, it was met with anxiety, frustration, confusion, and a litany of other emotions. One of our best sales representatives exclaimed, ‘What the heck do you mean? We’re supposed to turn customers away?’
That’s precisely what we did. We looked into our market, deeply defined exactly who we were for, and cut out all other distractions. We published marketing campaigns and social media posts about who we are for, and who we are not for.
We empowered sales reps and client care teams to say no and give our competitors referrals. We turned away more business than we had ever done. Every bone in my entrepreneurial body ached. The experience made me cringe, and I endured many sleepless nights. But, within two weeks, my business became so much simpler, more efficient, and my team was so much happier.”
Did it work? That’s the 64,000 dollar question in business. Here are the results:
– warranty callbacks decreased by 49% within 30 days
– monthly sales increased by 35% within 14 days
– turnover in customer service dropped by 75% within 90 days
– accounts receivable decreased from 78 to 15 days within 4 months
Be great at what your most important customers value. Steven summed up his thinking:
“We want to work with homeowners who see value in our products and services, who want something done the right way, on time, on budget, and treat us with respect. If you do, welcome. If you don’t, sorry: We’re not for everyone.”
Who are you not for?
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Stan Phelps walks the walk. He stands out in the sea of sameness by modeling his own Differentiated Experience (DX) message: Differentiation isn’t just about what you say, it’s about what you do and, more importantly, how and why you do it. Stan leverages his unique collection of 5,000+ case studies on customer, employee, and brand experience to engage audiences with informative learning-based experiences. He believes purposeful DX wins the hearts of employees and customers, and differentiation ultimately boosts loyalty, retention, referrals, and results.
Find Stan’s in-person and virtual keynotes, workshops, and Goldfish tank programs at StanPhelps.com.