Expanding a business beyond its original roots

Innovation isn’t about how big something grows, it’s about how small it starts. That’s how creative people become legends. Because they possess the miraculous ability to expand something beyond its original roots. 

The question is, how do they do it? How does a person turn a seed into a forest? 

One of my clients is a leading provider of marketing, rating and management software and services to the insurance industry, both for independent agents and insurance carriers. But when they started the business, all they had were a few programmers and crude piece of software installed on clunky desktop computer. 

Thirty years later, they’ve grown the company from one product to multiple automation products and services for the entire insurance industry. After I finished speaking at their recent user conference, I asked the president how he did it. What his strategy was for turning his seed into the forest, as it were. 

Upfield explained that his company specialized early. They focused on an underserved vertical. And once they had built enough trust and connection and permission with their small but loyal user base, they capitalized on those assets by asking their users what else they needed. What other problems needed solving. What additional products and services they’d love to see next. 

After all, customers love to put their fingerprints on the things they love. They’ll tell you how to sell to them. You just have to listen and let them lay track down in front of your train. 

As my mentor loves to remind me, don’t find customers for your products, find products for your customers. Focus on that, and you’ll expand beyond your original roots. 

LET ME ASK YA THIS…If you were your own customer, what would you just love to have from you next?

LET ME SUGGEST THIS…

For a copy of the list called, “123 Questions Every Marketer Must Ask,” send an email to me, and you win the list for free!

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Scott Ginsberg

That Guy with the Nametag

Author. Speaker. Strategist. Filmmaker. Inventor. Singer. Songwriter. 

[email protected]

www.nametagscott.com

Never the same speech twice. Customized for your audience. Impossible to walk away uninspired.

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Email to inquire about fees and availability. Watch clips of The Nametag Guy in action here!