Why Saying 'No' helps your Business
We talked last post about knowing the limits of our business based upon our passion and expertise, and how saying "no" was as important as saying "yes."
Here's one of the reasons why: referrals.
It's been a long time since most businesses wouldn't help customers be referring them to someone that can do the job better. They'd rather try it themselves, which always ended up in disaster, or they would leave the customer unfulfilled in what they needed. Everybody lost in those cases.
When you understand the purpose of your company and the niche you serve, it benefits you in two fantastic ways.
1. When you tell a person that what they want is outside of the scope and expertise of your company, they will give you their respect. When you then refer them to another business that you know serve this market, you earn their trust. You have a built in referral right there if you ever need one.
2. The second great part about it is concerning the business that you refer the customer to. Almost always they will tell the business owner or employee who sent them their way. It creates a lot of good will. It's the type of intangible that can't be measured.
What's interesting about this, is that the more times you have to say no, the more you're actually marketing your business, as word will spread about how you'll take care of your customers no matter what you have to do. Not only will customers reward you and remember what you specifically stand for because you've had to explain to them why you can't help them (marketing in itself), but you will eventually start to have other business owners begin to send people your way when it is beyond their ability to do a job.
Don't think that doing business online changes any of this. It doesn't. It actually becomes even easier to do because of the speed and ease in which these things can get done.
If you do have someone contact you about something beyond your expertise, not only send them somewhere else, but contact the web owner and let them know that you've done it. There's all sorts of things that can happen and originate from these simple acts of taking care of people. That's how saying know can grow and help your business.
Other Niche Marketing Resources:
Topple Barriers to Niche Marketing
Learn how to focus on a niche market
Steps to Finding Your Ideal Business Niche
NicheMarketResearch.com Articles
5 Biggest Niche Marketing Mistakes
» Lessons Learned from the Slowing Growth of Social Networking Web Sites from TheAlphaMarketer
What's happening with the social networking space, as advertising numbers are projected to fall short of expectations for 2008, and overall growth starting to plateau; especially with market leaders MySpace (NYSE:NWS-A) and Facebook?The answer is t... [Read More]
Tracked on: June 14, 2008 10:26 PM | Permalink to Trackback