Finding New Eyes for Your Business Success

Common errors for business owners

Prepare to be a customer driven business

Practical applications

When we fail to see what the customer sees

How do your customers see you, your services, your products? Do not make the mistake that they are seeing your business, products or service in the same way as you. They are not!

Business owners, especially when they have been operating for a few years, can develop misconceptions about customers. I have worked with businesses for 25 years, and often hear variations of the statements I have listed below. The statements are exaggerated, of course, but there are underlying currents of reality. No business would survive if the owner believed these statements 100%, but be honest. If you have been in business for long, you have probably entertained pieces of the following beliefs.

Customers Care That I Succeed

WRONG! Your customer does NOT care if you succeed. If you provide a product or service that they need, they may prefer that you stay in business for their convenience, but they will not go out of their way to keep you in business. It is amazing how many business owners perceive their "dream" as a joint venture with their customers. You have put your financial future, heart and soul into this venture, and assume that the customers care. On a human level, customers may admire you and want you to succeed, but that will not keep them buying. Only serving their needs will accomplish that goal.

This concept is prevalent in "shop local" debates. It is an emotional issue, but the truth is, we are a very mobile society. No longer do customers have to depend on what the local businesses can supply. If a local business is not offering what distant specialized shops offer, or cannot compete with the superstore pricing, they must find their place (brilliant service is a great equalizer), or go out of business. This sounds harsh, but a customer has no responsibility to settle for less than the perfect solution to their problems, just so a business can survive.

Customers Do Not Know What They Need

WRONG! They may not be able to get their needs into words. They may not understand enough about your product or service to know what is available. But make no mistake, they know they have a need -- that is why they are out looking -- and they will recognize it the instant they see it. It is possible you do not have the product to serve their need, but do not get caught into the arrogance that they do not know what they need.

Often, when you are getting customers who "just do not seem to understand", the culprit is not the customer, but your targeting. If all of your advertising promises the best price, do not be surprised when only bargain hunting customers contact you. If you advertise top quality merchandise, you had best be offering a different product line than a discount chain. If you put forth an image of knowledge, which will often allow a higher price, you had better make sure that knowledge is readily available to your customer.

Look at your public image. Does it reflect who you are, or did you set it up to include every living, breathing, potential customer in the entire country? If the latter, expect to see lot of customers who do not fit within what you can deliver. (I will do a feature on this topic soon.)

Customers are Unmotivated/Demanding/Ignorant/Cheap . . .

WRONG (in most cases). There are some "unusual" characters out there, but the majority of people will happily exchange dollars, within their means, for good value products or services. Unfortunately, business owners too often forget the exchange part of the business deal. They must be prepared to deliver quality products and make sure their customers understand where the value is in the exchange. We know our expertise or quality, and we must make sure our customers understand and benefit from the exchange.

Outside of a few "impossible" people, most customers are fair. When you make the assumption that strange demands from customers may indicate something missing from your operation, you will be amazed at what surfaces.

I was doing some marketing development with a hobby shop in a mid-size city. The staff was complaining loudly about the rush of business just before closing. They were frustrated with the customers, and were worried that the service they provided to those last minute customers was less than perfect (they did well, but service did fall short of non-closing time levels).

We started tactfully chatting with customers to find out why they were shopping at that time. Most were rushing to get there after work so they would have the materials for that evening. The solution was simple. In this case, ideal, since the owner of the store was not a morning person. They adjusted the hours of operation. The morning hours were moved ahead by one hour, and the evening hours extended from 6pm to 8pm. Nobody seemed to notice the later start, student employees loved the extra hours, and 6-8pm became the best hours of the day. The customer base also increased, since their competition closed at 5:30 or 6pm.

back to top

Prepare to Be a Customer Driven Business

You can find magic in your business by learning to look through your customer's eyes. Let's strip off some layers that stand in the way of understanding customer realities. You will have to recognize all the information your customer is missing to fully understand how they see your business.

Remove most of your knowledge
If your customer truly knew as much about your industry as you do, they would be your competitor, not your customer.

Remove your panic, fear, dreams about business success
Your customer does not have these filters to view your business.

Remove your future plans
Your customer cares about what is available today. They have many other areas of their lives to deal with, and to keep track of where you are going is not likely to be a priority.

Remove your obsessive interest in your field
Your customer shares some interest, but not likely at the level you participate. They come to you because you have the passion for your industry, not because they do.

Remove your intimate knowledge of how your business works
You know what you can deliver, what is related to what, what is possible. Your customer may understand some of what you offer, but they are unlikely to understand the depth of what is available.

Remove the specialized expertise you have
You probably truly understand your product field. But give your customer the credit of their knowledge. You do not know EXACTLY what their circumstances may be. Yes, this product may be the best in the industry, but if it does not directly solve the problem the customer brings to you (and they are the expert on that front) then it is not the "best".

Remove your knowledge that "we (or the industry) have always done things this way."
Most fantastic business success stories have resulted from an entrepreneur "breaking the mold". Listen to your customer needs, and apply your industry knowledge and creativity to solve the pieces that do not work for them.

Once you can step away from your knowledge and the emotional ties you have to your business, you are ready to put on "customer eyes". Learning to work in this way is not just a chance to increase your sales, but will provide a definite map for everything you do. Future articles will delve into targeting your customer base, identifying customer needs, etc, but you must learn to see your business as your customer does. This gives you the "ability to see" that will put power into your marketing strategy.

 back to top

Practical Applications

See Your Business for the First Time

Strip away all that you know about your business and take a tour through your marketing materials and your customer relations. Try to imagine that you are a new customer and identify what they will see when they approach your business. HINT: You are a customer too, many times each day. Observe how you see other businesses, and try to imagine how they see themselves. Note where they fail you as a customer, or where they succeed. This is the best constant improvement technique you can use.

Help Your Customer See the Value in Your Business

Provide excellent product information
Identify where you can make things clear for your customer or potential customer. Does your marketing clearly separate you from your competition? If not, can you remedy that with a new page on your Web site, or a printed fact sheet from your office computer?

Make sure your value is visible
Are you promoting ALL the value you provide to a customer? When you feel that the quality of your product is not understood, what is missing from customer knowledge? If you offer a service, could you produce a printed piece that underlines your expertise? Make sure it is relevant to your customer's needs and written in a way your customer can understand (watch the jargon). If you are selling pet products, the fact that you have an economic degree is not likely to win customer loyalty. A major in animal behaviour will catch their attention, as will work experience with an animal trainer.

Finish the sale with a bang
When your customer is satisfied, have you made sure that they understand why? This is your golden opportunity to promote your true advantage to customers. Word of mouth is the strongest marketing tool. Make sure your customers understand why you are good at what you do so they are promoting the right product. You may not know exactly why a customer is satisfied. Perhaps they were in a desperate hurry to have a service completed. That is what they remember . . . your fast service, and that will be the basis of their recommendation. This may not reflect the true value of your service.

An after sales brochure, or Web page reference (careful here -- they may not be motivated to go out of their way, since their problem is solved) can be skillfully designed to plant the right information in a customer's mind. In addition to highlighting the areas of your products that you wish to promote, it should contain more information for your customer. Perhaps you could include a maintenance schedule, or related services that could be added in the future. Make sure all your contact information is clearly visible.

You should also try to keep in contact with your customers. They have bought once from you -- they are already qualified customers. Rare is the case where you cannot bring a satisfied customer back. Don't miss this opportunity.

I remember only one real estate transaction well. We have bought and sold quite a few times, and never have had a bad experience, but I remember only one well (to be honest this is the only name I remember). Linda did a great job for us, as did our other agents, but the day the sale closed, red roses arrived, along with a moving guide and a few other information pieces.

Talk about impact. I was young, and scared to death. We had just committed to a move we could not afford, but had no choice to make. Those roses were my sign that all would be OK, and the information proved to me that Linda truly understood buying a house was more than a product purchase. The word of mouth promotion that I did for Linda was high value -- not only could she sell or find you a house, but she was a life-change manager. In my mind, there is still no other agent.

 back to top

When We Fail To See What the Customer Sees: A personal story

I have a favourite "don't do this" story from my personal life. We had one of those "let's patch it up for a year" projects in our bathroom. By the time we finished with the "while we are at it" additions, we had nothing but studs and floor joists remaining. Needless to say, we did not have a huge budget for this emergency project, but one thing we really wanted was a whirlpool tub. We checked in a nearby city by phone, and found several models in a price range we could afford.

Although we had to make the 120 mile trip to the city for other reasons, we wanted to make sure there was not a tub available locally that would answer our needs. We found one at a local kitchen and bath centre, but it was $200.00 more than the one in the city.

I handed the owner of the business the sale on a platter. I told him that we had found one for less, but that we could be talked into local purchase if he could convince me that we would get value for our extra $200. I also told him that the brand name made no difference to me, since we had paid extra for that same brand in a water pump, only to find it was no different than the less respected brands we had used in the past.

He had my attention for nearly 30 minutes, and he focused 90% of his time on the brand. I knew more about that company than I had ever desired to know by the time I left, but had not one reason to spend my money. I found out later that he has an excellent reputation for servicing his products, and that he is an incredible installer. Not one word of that found its way into his pitch.

He was proud of his products. His knowledge of the industry was excellent. His reputation was flawless. I would not be surprised if he considered me to be an "ignorant customer", and that would be true in many ways. But my ignorance to the value of his product was not my fault. His responsibility was to listen to my needs and show how he could fulfil them. That is where he lost the sale, and most likely many similar sales. Even though he offered excellent value and integrity to his customers, he failed to make that known. Sadly, the business is now closed.

back to top

__________________
Wendy Peck. 1999

Wendy Peck
Marketing Solutions Through Technology
220-15, RR#2, Kenora ON P9N 3W8
(807) 548-1090 Fax: (807) 548-2687
wpeck@wpeck.com
http://www.wpeck.com