Fatal Mistake 5: Thinking “Product-Out,” Not “Customer-In” If your sales or lead generation efforts are struggling, first look to yourself. How clear is your Ideal Customer Profile? Have you identified their core challenges? Are you marketing to and speaking to those ideal clients, or are you speaking to too broad an audience, and diluting your voice? Executives hate to do this because they feel like they are shrinking their market opportunity, but the wisdom says, “Pick a niche, get rich.” Think of a fire hose: If it’s on a wide spray, it doesn’t go far. But tighten it to a laser-thin stream, and it will punch through a wall. Think of your messaging the same way. Is it tight enough to punch through a market’s noise and indifference? It’s the same amount of water and energy, just with a different focus. Also, companies love to talk about what they do and what they are. “We are the leading platform in …” No one cares about what you do; they only care what you can deliver for them. You’re a “platform”? Why is that valuable to customers? What is the impact or result you can promise customers? Executives need to spend at least 25% of their time with customers, so they stay connected with “what it’s really like out there.” Solution: Talk to customers to get clear on what you do for them, rather than how you do it. Put this into a simple, clear one-page document you can share with the entire company. Regularly connect with customers by phone or in person.