A consultant asked me for some clarification:

David, you say our mantra should be “narrow in my market and broad in my capabilities.” If I’m narrow in my marketing, how do I get permission from an existing client to take on other, broader projects?

Here’s the answer I gave the consultant:

First, while I’m all for taking on a broad range of projects, make sure you stay within your sweet spot. That’s where you add the most value and that’s how you’ll knock your clients socks off so they’ll give you introductions to other prospects.

That said, the best way to expand your breadth inside a client is to build an assessment into every project. Then you conduct a review session with the client in which you reveal the many opportunities you’ve uncovered, some of which you may be be able to help them capture. Toward the end of the review session you can use a variation of “The Turn” that sounds like this: “Would you be open to a discussion at some point about these opportunities and how we may be able to work together to attack them?”What would your response be to this client?

How do you market narrowly yet win a broad range of projects?

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