“But those partnerships are most valuable if we can work with clients who need
our expertise.”
Steinberg points out that demanding clients with specialized needs keep her
and her staff sharp, allowing for the exchange of knowledge that specialists crave,
and, indeed, need. “We’ve walked away from large opportunities because in the
RFP process it became apparent that the potential client thought they needed
something but had zero intention of letting us dig in and roll up our sleeves and
work with them.”
Or consider Elevate Destinations, a 14-year-old travel agency that occupies
a niche within a niche within a niche: luxury, eco-friendly travel that has
positive social impact — for example, by supporting sustainable development or
volunteering with community organizations. Founder and owner Dominique
Callimanopulos saw an opportunity to create a company that could put together
donor trips for nonprofits that previously had no efficient way of allowing
donors, boards, and investors to see, literally, where their money was going.
“Development people are not travel specialists, so they were outsourcing the
travel to us,” she recalls.
She then branched out into private travel for couples, families, and parents
“who want to take their kids out of their bubbles” — enlarging the niche, but
not changing it. She is careful to avoid the temptation of seeking customers who
want luxury only, without the social conscience aspect. Callimanopulos describes
Elevate’s trips as “safaris for the soul.”- They compete on value, not price. Specialists’ sales processes are almost
invariably consultative — partly to display their skill to a prospective customer,
but also to vet the customer’s suitability for them. Says Sepire’s Steinberg, “You
can identify a specialist when on the very first sales call with a prospective client
they don’t try to sell anything.” She says those first contacts should be about
listening: “Find out what their pain points are, what they are really looking for.”
If you try to make price your differentiator, you’ve surrendered your credentials
as a specialist.
This means specialists need ways to deal with procurement departments, many
of which are designed to encourage price competition and offer little opportunity
for potential providers to showcase unique capabilities, especially in the early
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