Do you care about your customers?
You make a sale for one, and only one, reason. Purchasing from you, there’s more in it for your customer than with any of your competitors.
That being said, does your “deliverable” honestly benefit your customer? Is your bottom line a positive experience for the end user or a nicely padded bank account?
It’s a fine balance, you know.
We’re in business to make a profit. But we’re also in business to solve a problem for our customers.
Sounds contradictory, but success happens when you’re more interested in your customers’ success than your own.
Treat your prospects as more than “objects”
When selling a service or product, it’s easy to see your target audience as a group rather than individuals.
Market research lumps them into a category. We look for the traits they share. We use words like “target.”
In short, we objectify them.
But you don’t sell to a group. You sell to individuals who want to buy from someone they like, who they feel they can trust.
Why should they trust you?
We as marketers like to differentiate ourselves. We want our customers to know how we’re different from the competition.
Are our customers any different?
They don’t want to be lumped into a group with every other company on a list. As far as they’re concerned, they aren’t like everyone else. They have unique problems and distinct needs. They also have a very human need to be seen for who they are.
If, when talking business, you don’t care about them as individuals, you won’t make the sale. By that I don’t mean you have to get personal. You do have to respect their differences enough to treat each prospect as a unique case.
Your prospects are looking for what’s in it for them — not as target group, but as a business in search of a solution.
Take the time to understand their individual needs and be genuinely concerned about helping them find a solution. Demonstrate honest commitment to their success.
The secret to success
The bottom line is this: Your success depends on your customers’ success. It’s a good idea, then, when talking to prospects and customers, to focus more on their needs than your own.
In doing so, you’ll inadvertently change the way you talk.
You’ll spend more time talking about their needs and challenges. You’ll brainstorm for ways you can help them instead of how they can help you. You’ll be committed to giving them a personalized solution rather than a generic one.
The result will be, even if they don’t know why, they’ll trust you over the next guy.
Your concern always shows. If they are your concern, it will show in the way you treat them, and they’ll like you better because of it.
It’s time to evaluate: Have you slipped into thinking of your prospects and customers as a commodity? Do you see them as a stepping stone to your own success? Or are you genuinely concerned about providing a product or service that solves a problem?
photo credit: Philippe Put
photo credit: Zach Dischner
