You’d be surprised at how many entrepreneurs and business leaders admit they don't have the faintest idea what their customers' deepest desires – and most excruciating problems – are.
According to Jaynie L. Smith, co-author of Relevant Selling and CEO of Smart Advantage, more than 90% of companies get it wrong.
Why do they get it so wrong?
They either never ask, never research or ask customers the wrong questions.
It's simple – if you don’t know your customers or prospects inside out, there's always a chance that your competitors might. If they do, you will not stand a chance.
People are self-centred
To ‘know' your customers in a business sense, you must first understand people in general, and their motivations.
People seem to be hardwired to have self-preserving and self-gratifying thoughts.
This isn’t me being cynical, it’s just a plain and simple fact. People do good things because THEY want to feel good about these acts. People live in fear because THEY are scared of suffering.
When surfing your website, speaking to one of your sales representatives, or attending one of your seminars, all people really want to know is – “WHAT’S IN IT FOR ME?”
If you understand and embrace this, you can totally use it to help your customers, by addressing their self-centred desires.
This can cause them to fall in love with you, your brand and your products/services.
What are their problems?
The next step is to find out what your customers' major problems and gripes are.
Once you know this valuable information, you can communicate in a language they understand, and provide solutions to their problems.
It’s also worth noting that prospects don’t always want – or need – the same thing as customers.
These wants and needs can change once prospects become customers, so it’s worth segmenting your research on both, and observing any patterns that occur.
Know their problems inside out in six weeks
To know the problems people have, first you need to re-connect with them.
Find The Edge Expert Panellist and author of Grow Your Service Firm, Robert Craven, has a great way of quickly finding out more about your customers.
He says the best strategy is to simply immerse yourself with your customers:
Arrange two meetings a day, over a six-week period – so in total 60 meetings.
This can be a coffee, a beer, a Skype chat, or any other way of verbally conversing with them.
This will help you to find out who your individual customers are and, in the process, help you uncover any problems that they are currently experiencing.
Not only will you find out more about your customers by doing this, you'll also inevitably strengthen your relationships with them.
Start today by blocking out six weeks, and making a list of 60 customers. Then, all you need to do is pick up the phone or drop them an email to get the ball rolling.
In this follow-up post, I share six of the best places to eavesdrop on your customers, so you can find out what they really think by listening in to what they say when they think you’re not listening
In my next post I will show you six of the best places to eavesdrop on your customers, so you can find out what they really think by listening in to what they say when they think you’re not listening.
