Chances are, your product or service isn’t for everyone. It’s not a one-​size-​fits-​all solution that can work for anyone in any industry. So, why are you acting as if that’s what your product is? If you go around cold calling and emailing every person you find on LinkedIn in hopes that they’ll somehow be a good fit, you’re wasting your time. And probably burning potential bridges by wasting the time of the people you’re contacting. You need to identify your product’s niche market and focus on that market specifically. If you need help figuring out who you should be reaching out to, follow three tips from Meredith Hart, writing for HubSpot:

1. Identify the Needs You Fulfill or Problems You Solve
2. Look Into Your Competition
3. Define Your Niche Market

How to Find Your Product’s Niche Market

Identify the Needs You Fulfill or Problems You Solve

Think back on your successful sales. What did your clients have in common? They likely all had similar needs or problems. And these needs and problems were ones that your product or service could fulfill and solve. This is the motivation prospects need to buy from you, and it’s likely exclusive to your niche market. “Research your potential customers to determine their buying behaviors and the challenges they face,” says Hart. Doing so will help you assess how to reach out to these potential customers, and it will “give you a better idea of how your business can provide value to your niche market.”

Look Into Your Competition

If your competitors weren’t good at what they do, you wouldn’t consider them your competition. While you may hate to admit it, you can learn a thing or two from your competitors. The competition’s website and social media profiles should give examples of their clientele and reviews from their clients. What kinds of companies and industries are these people a part of? That’s your niche market.

During your research you should also look for something else. Find out what your competition’s best-​selling products and services are and how similar they are to yours. What’s different between your two products? That’s where you find your product’s value over the competition. And it’s likely that some of your competition’s clients could benefit from your product’s value. Look through the competition’s online reviews to find dissatisfied clients or ones who are merely satisfied instead of happy with the competition. These are some new prospects you can reach out to.

Define Your Niche

Now it’s time to combine your research. Hart says that when you’re finalizing your niche market, you should consider:

• Your client’s demographics
• Your client’s values and interests
• Where your clients are located
• The quality of your products
• The price of your products

Examining your current clients’ demographics, values, interests, and locations can help you identify the type of people you should be on the lookout for when scouting for leads. What industry are they in? Again, what is the commonality of their needs and problems? Should you be targeting certain geographic locations with your product or service? You can also review your product’s quality to see if your niche market includes your competition’s current clients. The price of your product also dictates who you can sell to. Is your asking price low enough that you can sell to small businesses? Or is your price point one that only more established companies can afford?

Once you answer all these questions, you’ll have your niche market. And when you start a conversation with your target prospects, your research will give you instant credibility.