At Glover Strategic Marketing, I have helped companies like yours grow; I want to share how you can achieve growth even when a small customer base limits you. You can achieve growth without relying on new leads by expanding your offerings, informing your customers of your offerings, expanding your geography, becoming better at serving your customers, working in tandem industries, and being more targeted.
Look for Tandem/Adjacent Market Segments
Many Business-2-Business companies know every prospective company in the customer base. So how do you increase your leads when you know all of the customers in your customer base?
Increase your customer base by expanding beyond your core business. Expanding into tandem or adjacent market segments is a tried and true way to outgrow your competitors and seize massive growth opportunities.
“In a five-year study, researchers analyzed the growth and performance of 1,850 corporations. They found that the companies with the most sustained profitable growth had used a systematic, disciplined approach to expand the boundaries of their core business into an adjacent space. Some companies expanded from one geographic market to another, while others applied an existing business model to adjacent segments.” Source MarketResearch.com
Start your search to find an industry that you can expand into by asking:
- What employee knowledge and skillset does your company have that can be utilized in a new market?
- Do any industries overlap that have a similar offering?
- What industries do your customers already use that are similar to your company?
- Which industries are saturated, which are under-serviced?
Ideally, you can find a new offering that will allow you to penetrate a new customer base that can easily fit your current offerings and your employee skillset.
For example, a heavy equipment company could expand by offering equipment for a similar industry, selling service agreements for other industry machinery, or offering job site software.
Sometimes a tandem industry is obvious, such as a heavy equipment company carrying mining equipment or a pool installation company offering excavation services.
However, the industry that isn’t obvious can often lead to the biggest growth opportunities. Using market research, employee interviews, and customer interviews can help you uncover new viable markets.
When you find a market you want to evaluate, “these high-level questions come into play: Source MarketResearch.com
- What is the market size?
- How quickly is the market expanding or contracting?
- How many buyers are there?
- What are the barriers to entry?
- What is the bargaining power of suppliers?
- What is the industry value chain?
- What is the intensity of the competition?
- Is there a threat of new entrants or substitute products or services?”
When you are ready to expand into a new market, I can help. Contact me today for a free one-hour consultation. Uncovering potential new markets and then developing a strategy to tackle the new market effectively are some of the many things Glover Strategic Marketing can help you achieve. There is no obligation and no pressure, just a frank discussion of your company’s needs and goals. What are you waiting for?
Read the series on how to achieve growth without relying on new leads: expand your offerings, inform your customers of your offerings, expand your geography, become better at serving your customers by becoming the gold standard, expand to tandem industries, and expert opinion: be more targeted.