How many times do you see a company who tries to offer add'l things to its clients... which they are not experts and sometimes not even related? "I have these customers and I need to increase revenues, so I just need to find more stuff to sell them." If I can just increase my product offerings then I can get more revenues.
Then you turn around and what they used to be the best at, all of a sudden they start losing market share there. They have diverted their attention away from what made them great.
It can be a small thing... like even adding a product offering that compliments your core product. That doesn’t mean you should do it. I am selling them product X and now I am going to also offer them product Y because it compliments it.
A lot of companies are attempting this right now... I am going to keep a careful eye on them. They now have a lot of turf to protect. They all have finite amount of resources and can only put so many resources toward so many things.
You might be thinking, “Why would that be bad?” – because now the company has to stay cutting edge and top of mind in 2 categories. They have to try to be the best in the world at both. If they fail in one, it could hurt their core product or vice versa.
In a world without competition it would be fine... The problem is, you are either getting better or worse. There is no status quo. If you are not getting better, then your competition is and they are closing that gap.
Jack Welch did this to perfection... He divested companies they were not number one in their respective markets at because he wanted to invest all of his resources into that one.
Do not try to be everything to everybody... Know who you are. Know whom your target audience and market is. Know how your product will be the best in the world to that group. Spend every waking moment making sure your product continually stays top of mind, and best to that group. This will not only insulate you from your competition who is trying to increase market share on that product offering. It will make your current customers so happy and excited that they will continually share it with people.
Chad Rothschild
www.chadrothschild.com
Follow Me on Twitter - @chadrothschild
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