Every business owner wants more customers. And instinct says: reach as many people as possible, please everyone, be for the whole world. It sounds logical. And it's backwards.
The businesses that grow the most don't grow by pleasing everyone. They grow because a small group of people loves them so much they can't stop talking about them.
The real engine of growth
The engine isn't ads. It's word of mouth.
The most powerful thing that can happen to your business is one person telling another: "you have to try this." That recommendation is worth more than any ad, because it comes with something no ad carries: trust. And here's the key almost no one gets: word of mouth isn't generated by many lukewarm customers. It's generated by a few passionate ones.
Lukewarm versus passionate
A hundred customers who think you're "fine" won't tell a single soul about you. "Fine" doesn't travel. "Fine" sits still.
But ten truly delighted customers, who feel you're theirs, those ten talk. They bring their friends, their family, their coworkers.
Passion spreads; satisfaction stays seated.
That's why chasing a lot of people who barely tolerate you is exhausting and doesn't grow. And winning over a few, on the other hand, puts those few to work for you, for free.
Who are those few?
In every market there's a group that cares more than the rest. That genuinely cares about your kind of product or service.
The ones who look after their car like it's part of the family. The ones who truly value supporting a business in their community. The ones who notice the detail everyone else shrugs off. They're not "everyone." They're a specific few. And they're exactly the ones who become your voice, if you build something worthy of their passion.
Picture two food trucks
One tries to please everyone: a huge menu, burgers and tacos and sushi and pizza, "something for everybody." It's fine. Nobody talks about it.
The other does three things, but does them in a way that drives a specific group of people crazy. That group posts photos, brings friends, waits in line. Which one grows? The one that chose to be adored by a few instead of tolerated by many.
How you win the few
So stop trying to be a little bit for everyone, and start being everything for someone.
Find the few who could love what you do, and build for them: their needs, the way they talk, the details they'll actually notice and comment on. When you delight the few, they recruit the many for you, for free. That's the engine.
I know it's scary, because it feels like leaving money on the table —"but I don't want to exclude anyone"—. And here's the point: trying to be for everyone is exactly why no one talks about you.
Part of what we do at DISSAU is help you discover who those few are and build something they'll want to defend. Because a business with true fans grows on its own, and one without them has to pay for every customer that walks in.
Where to go next
Not sure who your passionate few are, or why your current customers aren't talking about you? That's one of the first things we untangle in a free assessment.
This was the fourth article in the series. In the next one we go after the decision that makes all of this possible and that most people are afraid to make: choosing who you're NOT for.
See you on the road. 🐮💜
