Countering Generalist Tendencies

Obviously I am going to urge you to counter these four forces.

First, instead of depending on your business as a primary source of stimulation, I’m going to ask that your personal life be so interesting that you are less tempted to make compromising business decisions to meet personal goals best met elsewhere. In practical terms, this means that you make time for those pursuits that you’ve never had sufficient time for.

In my case it’s photography (www.retake.com). In yours it might be writing, biking, cooking, community involvement, or whatever. This will extend to your employees, too, since they will argue strongly for being a generalist firm, not because (qualified) clients want that, but because they are stimulant-deficit too. You’ll need to work hard to create an interesting environment so that specialization becomes acceptable.

Second, you shouldn’t be hiring clones anyway. The early staffing model is appropriately generalist in outlook, but it should quickly include specialists, each of whom is better and smarter than you are in a specific area. Applying the model with staffing will make it easier to apply it to positioning.

Third, market your firm intentionally and consistently, not because you need more work, but because it’s the easiest way to be in control of your business life.

Fourth, practice saying No in front of the mirror every morning. You might make it part of your routine, perhaps right after brushing your teeth. Or just practice with telemarketers that call during dinner.

So in spite of all these personal tendencies to be a generalist provider, keep your eye on the main reason for having a specialist outlook: it’s what (qualified) clients want, and your positioning might very well need to change in order to get to the next level.

What Specialization will do for You

In addition to attracting sophisticated clients who see you more as a partner than a vendor, what else will specialization do for you?

Specialization will make it easier to find clients. This is because you will have specific wares to sell, and so you’ll know who wants those wares. There are many reasons why someone shops at a department store. There are far fewer reasons to shop at a jewelry store, and your marketing plan can be much more specific.

For example, you’ll be able to go to associations that gather your target buyer, or use a list broker that specializes in connecting with that marketplace. Say you are a public relations firm with investor relations as a practice area. All your potential clients are going to be members of NIRI (National Investor Relations Institute). If you are an ad agency specializing in financial services, you can go to the BrandWeek directory and choose from 22,000 decision makers with control over 6,600 brands, resulting in a small number of manageable prospects. If you are an interactive firm, you can go to Gale’s Encyclopedia of Associations to find a few candidates within the 27,000 possibilities offered. If you are a design firm that specializes in annual reports, you might go to Creative Access and buy their list of annual report decision makers.

Specialization will make it easier to service your clients confidently. The more you focus, the more experience you’ll build. And the more experience you build, the more you’ll be able to lead clients through the problem-solving process.

Specialization will make it easier to charge more. Suddenly you’ll be not only capturing all your time (instead of subsidizing clients), but you’ll move beyond that to “value-based pricing,” which is better suited to specialization. This is true because specialization lends credence to higher prices. In fact, consider your client base, which certainly consists of a few unqualified clients. These clients—the very same ones who whine about your prices—will pay twice as much to a “specialist” when they need one, and often one that is out of market. It’s not about price, it’s about value. If a client really needs something, and if they have the time and money necessary (which makes them qualified), they’ll choose a specialist who focuses on what they need.

Specialization will make it easier to develop good publicity about your firm. There will be fewer people who care about your expertise, but they will care much more deeply about it. And the media vehicles to reach them will be more identifiable.

David C. Baker is the principal of ReCourses, Inc. The content of this column is based on an article that originally appeared in Persuading.