Do You Think Like Your Client?ByKim Schott
Are you the type of business that communicates your client results, or do you only talk about your business processes? I have found that most successful global small businesses have the attitude that a sale is the beginning of a life-long relationship with a client. These small businesses KNOW the results they bring their clients, and they know their clients intimately, so to speak. Their every need is anticipated, and they sell solutions to their individual client's specific problems. The client is KING, and the product or service, is a means to an end. That end being a RAVING testimonial and the constant satisfaction of the client's own unique needs and values.
Now the problem that I find with my clients who struggle to attract local or global clients, is that they talk about the process of what they do, not what they really do for their clients. There is a huge distinction here, and that distinction is costing them, and perhaps you, lots of potential new clients. When I hear a small business owner say, "My accounting firm has been in business X amount of years, and we offer the typical accounting services blah blah blah", it sends up a red flag for me. It tells me that these people don't really know what they DO for their clients. They clearly are not connected enough to their client base to see what their client truly values.
Hate to say this, but nobody really cares about your business processes. Until you can tell a client what's in it for them to work with you, they won't pay attention to you very long. Now, there is nothing wrong with you if you have been doing this wrong, but you'll want to fix your marketing message quickly.
You may have heard of the phrase "features vs. benefits", but have never really known what it meant. Let's learn it now, OK? An example of a product's feature is its color, size, etc. An example of a benefit or result is the solution it brings you. It helps you save money, it takes away the pain, etc. An example of a business process is a tax preparation, spinal adjustments, selling candles, building a home, etc.
As you stay open to learning, I want you to expand your inner capability to think and see "new ways" of what your client values and, in turn understand what they really get from you. For example: As an American, we value speaking up. Americans tend to not beat around the bush, get to the bottom line, and ask for the sale immediately. That's why slogans are critical. With other cultures, this is just not the case:
*Japanese value saving face. The main goal is not to exchange information. Maintaining harmony is the overriding goal of the client communication.
*South-Africans value formality in dress and speech to promote good client relationships
*Hungarians value understanding the past. Using historical context is important, in order to describe the present benefit of your service.
I could keep going, since I love cultures so much. But you get my point. Different cultures will require you to have different client-centered marketing.
If you want new and better client-centered marketing, change the way you think and feel about your product, your service, your process and the way you do business with new prospects. You can make that picture a lot better than you may think right now. Make a list of the top 10 reasons, values, motivators, results or benefits that make your target audience buy from you. Now, not every thing you listed will fit your business, but it will help you narrow down your client's motivators. And once you know what motivates them to buy from you, you can use that message in every piece of marketing you own.
Kim Schott, your Global Client Communications Expert, is the author of the Keys to Client Communication System, the step-by-step, paint by numbers client attraction program to attract more clients in less time.
To receive your weekly how-to articles on consistently attracting more local and global clients in less time, visit Schott Cultural Consulting.
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