“You’re avoiding committing to a single, explicit go-to-market focus”

Work Smart Not Hard Tip No. 46 in a series written for Indie Cambs

Members of my network of independent business owners who use AI tools asked it this question last week.

Some of the answers were a real wakeup call:

“You’re avoiding creating one clear, repeatable commercial offer with a defined sales motion and then backing it with deliberate outbound distribution.”

“Right now you’re keeping several doors ajar. The avoided decision isn’t “what could I do?” it’s, “If someone has £X budget and this specific problem, am I confident saying: “This is for you?””

While AI doesn’t know all the answers, these ones really rang a bell with the people asking the question. What do you think the answer would be for your business?

Sometimes the work we need to do isn’t about doing more. It’s about being clearer, bolder and more intentional with what we already have.

Making a bold offer can sometimes feel risky. If you make an offer and get turned down, what then? Do you negotiate or move on? Nobody likes rejection and it can be hard to bounce back and believe that your offer is good, but won’t necessarily suit everyone.

Writing this, I’ve just finished a conversation with a business owner whose head of sales was not making anywhere near his target billings and the company was sliding into a situation where costs were outpacing revenue. The sales guy was making a “chocolate box” offering, detailing all the things the business could do and waiting for the client to choose. After a lot of soul-searching, he admitted that he was afraid of making a specific offer in case he got a “no” and so he kept it comfortable by letting the prospective client go away and think about what they needed. Most never came back to him.

We’ve convinced him that a “no” is just the start of another conversation about how the offer can be adapted to what the client really needs and now we wait to see what happens – while his boss keeps a close eye on things!

How do you feel about this? Are you making a bold offer, and if not is it the fear of rejection that holds you back?

Another factor in this is pricing. The way you price your offer creates a perception about the value you bring, so being clear about the impact your offer has is an easy way to focus clients. If you undervalue your offering and price cautiously you’re inviting people who choose price over value and that only works for very specific types of business where volume is a big factor. In a small business it’s just an invitation to frustration and pain and clients who don’t respect you.

So this Work Smart, Not Hard tip is to create a bold offer, be clear on the impact you have, and price accordingly!

If you’d like to explore more ideas on pricing and attracting the right clients contact me!