Niching Case Study: Jane Binnion

BS free Ethical Sales training and coaching for businesses & organisations that give a damn.

janebinnion.com

#sytycn2014

Tad’s Rating:

8/10

Contest Rating:

8/10

Average Rating:

8/10

Tad’s Comments:

Jane! I love what you’re offering. Right now this is a solid 8 for me. I love the “give a damn” and “BS free”. Shows me you’re fun and have sass.

For this to be a 10, I think I’d need to know a bit more about the type of businesses and organizations you tend to focus on. Is it solopreneurs? Retail? Small to medium size businesses with 50 employees? Products? Services? All of it?

This is a great example of a general “what” that you’re offering “sales training”. . . being clarified a bit with the “how” (ethical). And so your ideal clients will, inherently, be people who are wanting that. There’s a strong level of self selection.

Niching Contest Participant Comments:

7/10: I like that you’re clear about what you provide (BS-free ethical sales training and coaching), but “organisations and businesses” seems really general, and seems to cover pretty much everyone. Also, what is it that they give a damn about.

8/10: Cool and snappy though I would maybe put “B.S.” in a clearer way because I didn’t get it at first and just read free ethical sales training and wondered if the BS was a typo, or your business name then I got to the Damn and realized what your were saying.

7/10: What benefits would I get from this? Yes, I do give a damn!

9/10: I give it a 9. I love the message, it’s very clear. It’s a little in your face, obviously on purpose, but I would soften the “give a damn” a little. The BS at the beginning would have won me over.

You caught my attention with the “BS-free” at the beginning – the “give a damn” at the end is overkill. Pick one of those turns of phrase instead of both. I think I like it better at the end so that the beginning can focus on the “ethical” aspect.

7/10: Are you seeking small companies? Or big organizations? The .org or the .com?

I think you should leave BS free and give a damn in – they tell me about who you are. My fuzziness comes around “businesses and organizations” and what they give a damn about. Do you work with solopreneurs, Fortune 500 companies, ma & pa shops, non-profits, societies? Do they give a damn about animal welfare, social justice, making huge profits, squeezing out the competition, climate change, world poverty and hunger? What if you flip it around from what you do to how you help. Maybe something like “I show green focused community groups how to build ethical relationships with supporters, and without the BS.” (off the top of my head without knowing who you like to work with.)

10/10: FUCKING LOVE IT

7/10: Is the training BS free or are you teaching companies how to sell without BS? It sounds like you help companies raise their level of integrity but the way you state it feels harsh. This makes me wonder if BS free sales means “in your face” sales.

6/10: More a statement of what you do than who you work with. What size and type of businesses and organizations, what do they give a damn about, what sectors would they sell to?

I get the message, but am somehow a little bit put off by the wording of the message. It’s a little in my face, and I wonder if “give a damn,” though the term has attitude, is that inviting.

Jane Binnion’s Reflections:

Thanks Tad, yes indeed re the self selection and this whole exercise has made me realise that I thought that was enough, when actually I really love to work with small orgs. Thinking cap still firmly in place.

The Revised Niche:

n/a