Niching Has Failed

Coach Angus MacLennan shares his thoughts and expertise in this week’s guest post as he explains his view that:

Niching Has Failed

by Angus MacLennan

After years of reading about the need to have a micro niche its time we admit that niching has failed! OK that is not the case in every instance but the times are changing and we need to adapt to the demands of a time poor but knowledge rich client base who are making slower buying decisions. Having a niche is no longer enough as clients are starting to demand a bespoke service. As service providers we need to give them what they want, when they want it and in the way they expect to receive it.

Clients are buying into the marketing hype that tells them they are all unique. Mix this with the ease with which they can research you, your products, your competitors and the detractors of your particular service and we have a situation where having a micro niche can count against you. Sure we are all a little different but lets face it – almost every conceivable problem has been faced by someone before.

Its easier to market to a micro niche but clients are demanding more and more now. They want a bespoke service – even if their problem is not actually unique. As a coach I have seen most problems, and there variants, and I can tell you that there are very few occasions now where I see something new. Its usually the same problem as the last client but with a particular twist.

While more and more clients feel that they have a unique problem, when you tell them its common they are happy to know they are not alone. However they still expect a bespoke solution. Its an interesting dilemma for service providers. Standard products are great and will always sell to some clients but more and more clients are expecting a service sculpted to their situation. They don’t want to hear about your niche. They want to know that you can fix their problem.

This shift is something my clients are seeing with their own clients. Their clients have taken on board the marketing that says we are all different. Interestingly, that marketing is designed to sell the same product to millions of “unique” people via mass media and mass production. People accept their “unique” shirt from Topshop is not actually unique but when they deal with smaller businesses they expect a bespoke service and my clients are finding that a narrowly defined niche can count against them.

Its time we looked to our transferable skills. What is it that we can do as professionals that can be applied to any situation. Those are the skills we need to market and those are the skills we need to highlight when selling our service. Have a niche to help your marketing but make sure you don’t miss the opportunity to help all those other people who could benefit from your skills but who don’t know what you can do because all they see is your niche.

Go back to basics and do a skills assessment to highlight your transferable skills and abilities. If you are crystal clear on your own broad range of skills you will start to notice more opportunities that you may have missed before. There are so many people out there who need your skills. Once I realised I needed to look up from niche marketing I saw so many more opportunities and my business has tripled in turnover in the last 8 months. Same clients but they are coming from so many new and different directions.

See a need, fill a need.

Have a great day.

Angus

About the Author/Further Resources

My name is Angus MacLennan and I am a Coach delivering practical Business Support to Business Owners and Transitions Support to people going through Change.

I enjoy writing articles about Business and Personal Growth & Development and I am lucky enough to be published in the UK, USA, Canada and Australia and to have my work incorporated into multiple training and support programmes. When I am not out enjoying the great outdoors with my kids or helping local charities I like to spend my time Coaching and delivering Workshops.

My mission is to deliver a quality service to help every client develop their business or career and enable them to have the work/life balance they want.

Over the past 7 years I have had hundreds of hours experience coaching across three continents.

I am a Master Practitioner of NLP, a Master Results Coach and have a Degree in Industrial/Organisational Psychology and a Post Grad Dip in Personnel Management.

Do you use any quotes in your coaching? 1

“Words are, of course, the most powerful drug used by mankind.” (Rudyard Kipling)

If you have been following this blog on twitter you will have noticed a regular number of quotes tweeted throughout the day. These are quotes that often prompt a response from those reading.

It’s not at all unknown for one person to contact me to share that they disagree with the words in one quote, whilst someone else will tell me that the exact same quote is positive and encouraging, maybe even offering a new useful insight.

So are you reading that and thinking that a quote like that would be one that you would or wouldn’t like to use in a coaching session?

Quotes are yet another thing that can be at the coaches disposal to use during a coaching session. As with all methods that are at our disposal as coaches when and if you decide to use a quote will vary on individual circumstance. But why would you want to use quotes?

I thought I’d share some of the things I consider when using quotes and which ones to use. Quotes are not the only way of doing many of these points; it is just another approach to have added flexibility.

I may use a quote as a starting point with a client. Perhaps a way to gently test if my suspicions about a belief or perspective that is causing an obstacle for the client. Using the quote as a way to gauge their reaction and take the next step.

I may also use a quote to “pace” the clients current position before leading them into exploring new perspectives. By “pace” I mean starting with the same perspective as the client. It is quite possible that the quotes that are most appropriate in this instance are not necessarily a perspective you personally share.

I personally believe that my work is not just about what happens during our scheduled time together but also about being a catalyst and facilitating outside of that time. If I know I’m working with a client who likes to learn by researching it is possible that I will use a quote to credit an origin of an approach etc if I suspect that they may want to explore that in more depth.

It is not the only reason I may use quotes as a coach. I may want to use a quote to gently provoke and challenge. Placing a distance between the words of the quote and the person saying it in some circumstances can make it easier for the listener to hear the message or underlying question.

Some coaches also use quotes if they feel that a more direct option may damage the coaching relationship. Perhaps they are at the start of their coaching relationship and feel that the client may feel defensive if it’s offered as a direct observation or question.

You can also use quotes to “borrow authority” to focus your clients attention or increase their willingness to answer a question or do an exercise. It can be used as a convincer to add extra-perceived credibility.

For example, coaching a customer-facing employee in a business you may choose to quote a specific customer. It’s entirely possible that your client will be far more open to a conversation around this than if a bystander voices the same opinion.

Or maybe you know that your client admires Richard Branson and the way he does business. You may choose to introduce an exercise around adding fun into a situation with “I’ve heard Richard Branson say ‘A business has to be involving, it has to be fun, and it has to exercise your creative instincts.’”

You may also use quotes that can inspire and motivate, grab attention or trigger new thoughts. It’s not at all unknown for me to share a quote for no better reason that it’s one that I think a client will like! 🙂

What about you? Do you use quotes in your coaching? If so what else would you add to this post?

About the Author

Jen WallerJen Waller is on a mission to support, nurture and encourage coaching skills and talents from non-coach to coach and beyond.

She has created a free 7 day e-course about how to create your own unique coaching welcome pack that works for you and your clients. Get your copy here.