NichePreneurs® Compete for the Lucrative Holiday Market

At this time of year, the big retail chains are plastered with signs screaming “Sale!” on everything from candy to electronics. The sales circulars are crammed with dozens of different gifts. How can a NichePreneur® compete for the lucrative holiday market?

You may be tempted to cut prices or diversify your offerings, but don’t give in. You have something of much greater value to offer your customers. Whether your niche market is retail, professional, or service-based, you can give your customers happier holidays by offering what the giant discount chain stores can never match:service, service, SERVICE.

Service starts with your expert knowledge of your niche market. As you deal with customers, you can discover their particular tastes and needs, but often you don’t even need to track their buying history. Because you understand your market in depth, you can make recommendations that will seem almost magical to delighted customers.

I prefer to buy from NichePreneurs® whenever possible, so I’ve seen this principle in action over and over again. Last summer, I was looking for a book to give a teenage niece, I skipped the big-box bookstore and went to a small specialty store noted for its knowledgeable owners. They sell books at full price—no discounts—but they have never steered me wrong when recommending books for myself or for gifts.

“She’s turning fourteen and loves fantasy. What would you recommend?”

The owner asked a few questions: Did my niece prefer a rose-colored view of the world? How did she feel about humor? After he handed me a list of recommendations, he said, “Everyone else will give her the big teen-vampire best-seller, but you can skip that. I think she’ll enjoy this book about witches instead. And if she doesn’t, you can return it for store credit.”

My niece loved the book. She hated the teen-vampire bestseller, although she was given three copies. But if she had already owned the book, I could have returned it. That’s another aspect of service—willingness to satisfy the customer, no matter what.

A few weeks ago I got an email from the bookstore owner, letting me know that a sequel had been published to the book I’d bought my niece. Was I interested in pre-ordering it? I said yes and crossed another name off my gift list. Service again—they made it easy to buy from them.

Give your customers the benefit of your expert knowledge, and they will come back.

Give your customers guaranteed satisfaction, and they will come back.

Give your customers personal attention, and they will come back.

These are all things you, as a NichePreneur®, can do much more easily than any discount chain.