20: The Market Leader Breakthrough™

When you make it beyond The Demand Breakthrough, you suddenly find that the challenge changes. Instead of running around desperate for prospects, you've got the opposite problem...more leads than you can handle. That's what I call a "high-class problem." This is Part 2 of our 3-part "mini-series" on The 3 Breakthroughs to Build a Business that Grows Itself. And in this episode, we're going to cover The Market Leader Breakthrough. What is The Market Leader Breakthrough? As professionals break out of demand scarcity and develop a system for creating new clients, they hit a new challenge. A steady stream of new clients has created consistent cash flow in the practice, but they quickly hit a capacity wall. They’ve got all the clients they can handle… A problem to envy, right? Ask any professional who’s hit the capacity wall. It’s a grueling, pressure-packed vice. You’re happy and fortunate to have clients and cash flow, but you soon realize, you’ve just capped your income, you’re working harder than you ever have to keep up and the only real way to increase your income is to raise your fees. Why Commoditization is the Biggest Threat to Your Practice The explosion of access to higher education that began immediately following World War II and accelerated into the early part of this century has turned professional services from a “guaranteed path to wealth” to a price competitive, “everybody’s the same” commoditized business where it’s increasingly difficult to attract clients and command premium fees. This new reality frustrates professionals who have invested significant amounts of time, energy and money to attain professional status—advanced degrees, certifications, or licenses. The Escape Path: From Commodity to Market Leader Commodity peddlers are forced to settle for low fees, thin margins, inconsistent cash flow cycles, and the constant worry that a competitor will take your clients. The answer is to become a market leader. Market Leaders shift from focusing on delivering industry best practices, as their measure of quality and value, and become solely focused on developing a unique method to deliver precisely what is valuable to their IDEAL Client.