01 Apr Specialist vs. Generalist
In this current environment, who do you see thriving?
If you’ve watched the news or paid attention to social media, you’ll notice that the spotlight is on the experts and the specialists— those who have valuable information and knowledge in their field.
In the medical field, doctors specializing in infectious diseases are being interviewed for their insights on the global health crisis and how to avoid and defeat it.
In the business world, economic experts are being asked for their views on how this pandemic will affect our global economy.
Fitness and health experts are extremely popular on social media, providing guidance on how to stay fit and healthy- both mentally and physically while staying at home to observe ‘social distancing’ to help ‘flatten the curve’.
It’s an unfortunate reality we’re currently living in, but these specialists are stepping up, responding to the challenges and thriving.
Here’s how it relates to you and your business.
Start Deep
Attracting anyone and everyone makes you generic.
When you’re generic you become a commodity and are seen the same as everyone else who offers the same service or products.
If you offer no clarity to prospects in the one thing that you can solve for them, then it’s hard for them to have confidence in what you do. But when you go deep, you dig into the specific problems you’re able to solve, for a specific group of people.
That’s where you find your point of differentiation, your unique serving message.
And it’s that difference that leads to your perfect patient wanting to work with you because you’re the expert!
You become that ‘go-to’ person during times of crisis because you have the knowledge and solutions that could help solve the problems they’re facing.
Becoming a Preeminent Specialist Crucial for Growing your Business and Income
If you’re a generalist, then it’s going to be hard for you to narrow down your target prospects.
If you don’t know who you’re targeting, you won’t know who you’re talking to, which means you’ll never have aligned messaging to use in your marketing.
If you’re going to market without knowing your niche, you’re just taking shots in the dark. It’s a guessing game, and all you can do is put out as much stuff as you can and hope you get lucky and something sticks.
So your costs go up because you’re trying to reach so many people. At the same time, your conversion rate goes down because you’re not speaking to anyone specific.
Then you’ll get desperate and throw up a discounted offer to just get people in the door. Meanwhile, these people are not a great fit for your business and rarely rebook, thus contributing to a vicious cycle and burnout.
One of our clients learned this lesson the hard way struggling for over a year, spinning their tires trying everything with no success.
When they implemented our strategy for targeting their perfect patient and becoming clear with their messaging and the problem they were solving for that perfect patient, they began getting new patients seeking them out without having to discount while almost doubling their rate.
Singular Focus
What did it take to do that?
Positioning themselves as a preeminent specialist, knowing their target prospect, and speaking directly to them with how they can help them achieve their outcomes.
When you’re laser-focused, when you know who you’re speaking to, you can build a community around your business sustainably.
If you have a community, then you’ll have opportunities.
When patients feel like you’re someone who really understands and can solve their specific problems, they’ll rally around your message.
That’s what creates a tight-knit tribe of supporters. And it’s how you create a better business in the long run.
Defining yourself as a preeminent specialist sets you apart from the competition and it will help see you thrive even in this current environment.
