Grow Your Service Business with Mark LeBlanc

I interviewed speaker and author Mark LeBlanc, on the topic of growing your business.

Mark is an authority on small business success and his book Growing Your Business, should be in your library.

Today’s posting is part one of three ...

Kevin Donlin: My audience is mainly service business owners. What one bit of advice would you give to people who are selling a service and want to grow their business?

Mark LeBlanc: I would suggest that they step back and really think differently about how they position themselves in the marketplace. Service providers or service professionals are usually very good at their area of expertise but often shoot themselves in the foot by positioning themselves by their particular title or their service.

For example, an accountant on accounting, or financial planner on investing. Pick any service and when a professional articulates their service first versus positioning themselves by the outcomes of their work.

I certainly am a speaker and author and coach on business planning and business development, but at the end of the day what I really do is help people grow their business or their practice.

The more that I can connect with the outcome of growing your business, the more likely I am to get the ear of a prospect and then move on to having some kind of a meaningful conversation.

Kevin: I think you call it a “defining statement” in your book.

Mark: I do. I refer to it as having a one-sentence answer to the question, “What do you do?” and creating a single or dual outcome defining statement.

My defining statement is, “I work with people who want to start a business and small business owners who want to grow their business.”

Kevin: That’s excellent. So if I’m an accountant I wouldn’t say … I’m an accountant, or that I provide accounting services. I might say, “I take away the hassle of bookkeeping so you can focus on doing what you love and growing your revenue,” or something like that.

Mark: You’re right on the money. Another example for an accountant might be, “I work with small business owners who want to grow their revenues and put more money in their pocket.”

Kevin: My unofficial defining statement from my accountant, by the way, is “She takes away the soul crushing labor that makes me want to hang myself in a closet so that I can talk to people that I can help.” She doesn’t know it but that’s what she does for me.

Come back tomorrow to learn how LeBlanc’s “Target 25” concept can grow your business.