Why Doubling Down on Your Large-Scale Customers Is Smart

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As you work to grow your business, it can be tempting to find ways to appeal to everyone. You might offer a “lite” version of your services or a lower-end product to appeal to more budget-conscious customers. At the same time, you could put out a comprehensive package or high-end product to appeal to more elite clientele. Just don’t expect that strategy to work. Here’s why.

Everything to Everyone

It might seem smart to try to adapt your business to a broader market, but when you try to serve a market that is too large and unfocused, your company may come off as inauthentic or insincere. Customers can feel that you are in it for the sale and not to serve their needs. This sales-oriented focus can make it difficult for your clients to trust that you have their best interests at heart or, if your company can handle the tasks, that your firm is the right fit for their needs. People tend to trust providers who are specialized.

Take food delivery service Purple Carrot, for example. The company focuses on serving the needs of vegan customers; this niche makes it easy for their clients to believe that they will provide 100 percent animal-free products in every box. Real estate company CARR is another example. This firm focuses solely on healthcare, so its customers can trust that it understands medical-specific property needs.

Narrowing Your Focus

You can create more growth by narrowing your customer focus. When you narrow your focus, you can more easily identify the needs of your most profitable customers and gear your offerings to fill those parameters. You can also identify which strengths your company possesses already that can bolster the services and products your biggest customers need and target areas for improvement. In this way, it is possible to focus your resources to building growth that is sustainable.

Growing Your Business

One company that has seen the benefit in returning to its enterprise roots is the call center software provider Aspect. The decades-old firm had been trending flat for four quarters before it started to see its numbers lift. That growth didn’t come from selling to small companies and emerging startups. Aspect grew its business by focusing on the needs of its Fortune 50 customers. Today, the call center company provides predictive outbound services and workforce optimization for some of the biggest corporations in the world, including the six biggest airlines, four of the largest banks and eight of the most significant telecom providers in the country. Aspect also counts more than two million agents.

Committing to Growth

Different customers have different needs, and you will ruin what makes your company unique if you try to serve every single one of those wants. Instead, look at what your company does and who it can serve best. If you narrow your focus and look toward your largest customers, you can start to build your company into a giant that serves the biggest companies in the world. You won’t get there overnight, but you can grow your business by narrowing your focus to your biggest clients. As you learn to serve those needs, your ability to address, anticipate and provide the services even bigger clients want will have the room to evolve naturally.

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