You Are Not Your Customer: 3 Fatal Mistakes
July 30th, 2014 // 3:04 pm @ Scott Manning
There is a motto that goes with selling that says, “You are not Your Customer.” And it just might be one of the most important aspects of selling above all others. I think however there is a major misunderstanding about this whole thing and it results in missteps with your customer experience, lost opportunity, and more than that a whole lot of money being left on the table and customers being left behind.
Most business owners would say they pretend to believe that they are their customer, that they are selling to people like them, and while this could be true, it misses the point altogether.
There are two critically important points to this.
First and foremost “You are not Your Customer” really means that you must not judge your customer or attempt to make decisions for them, usually resulting in being bashful about the close, asking for less money than you should or could otherwise get, and above all else doing the customer a disservice because you fail to understand or listen instead assume and expect less than your customer might actually want to do.
This is probably the biggest problem with people who fall into the old Zig Ziglar line of “wimpy salepeople have skinny kids” and the essence being “Who are You to decide what your customers and clients want to spend their money on”. It is your responsibility to guide and educate and present the BEST scenario and most IDEAL product, service, opportunity for your prospects and customers and then help them to decide what fits.
Yes you exert control.
No you do not pre-judge.
Yes you educate, influence, direct.
No you do not back off for any reason until the customers asks you to.
The most common of these are marketers saying
“Well I would never read that long sales letter, or watch that video, I would never pay those prices, I would THIS and THAT, and on and on, etc”
WHO CARES. You are not your customer. Do your job, do right by the customer, and let them decide, you give them all of the resources to make the best decision possible.
The next aspect of this “you are not your customer” comes at it from the different angle; it is when Marketers try to take short cuts to get to the end result.
For example, You assume the customer already understands something because TO YOU it is common sense. You skip steps in the sales process because you are comfortable with it or just complacent.
My friend and mentor Dan Kennedy always talks about the marketer will stop telling their story, the essence of why the business, product, service, guru exists (which is the most important part of building trust and credibility) BECAUSE THEY are tired of hearing it, forgetting of course that every prospect and customer are learning about you for the FIRST time and they MUST hear it for everything else to be effective for you.
This case of “you are not your customer” is so important, it’s like leaving out key ingredients of a secret and complex master recipe – because you think you know it so well that you might be able to cut corners or change it up – it is familiar to you and you get bored.
DON’T DO THAT – resist the urge, if you want to maximize your sales and make your life selling much much easier (including price resistance and shortening of your sales cycle), then ALWAYS remember to complete the sales process thoroughly from start to finish every time.
To summarize…
NEVER Assume Your Customer already knows about you, about the benefits of your product or services, about the value they will receive or the problems you will solve.
NEVER take for granted anything. No short cuts, no preconceptions, GIVE every Prospect and Customer the very best chance at giving you as much money as possible and getting from you the best of what you have to offer.
You should always be of the mindset that this is going to happen every time, that is why it is critical to have mastered a sales process that works and then stick with it, to create the ultimate customer experience and then always follow-through.
Your customer is not you, they don’t care about your topic, business, service, product, or industry the way you do – or they would have become what you are. They do not have the passion and interest OR UNDERSTANDING about what you do, they are interested in WHAT YOU CAN DO FOR THEM – never forget that – do not get so caught up and in love with “your thing” that you forget the customer is there for the RESULTS, the benefits, the problems you will solve. Stay focused on that, never on the THING, just because you like and love and dedicate your life to it, the customer is not You, You are not your customer.
Follow these principles and prepare to open the flood gates of money and opportunity into your life. Your customers will begin doing things you never thought they would, investing money you never thought possible, because you get out of their way and YOUR way.
Remember this line.
It does NOT matter what YOU think about what you do, it ONLY matters about the CUSTOMERS perception of what you do, how you do it and about the benefit to them. Nothing else matters.
There is that expression WWJD, in your business you should always remember this:
WDMCT
What does my customer think,
And HDMCF
How does my customer feel.
It is their perception, understanding, comfort, trust, belief and confidence that will make you rich.
Choose to take short cuts, forget the main purpose, and miss the fact that to every new customer or prospect you are starting over from scratch every time…
And you put yourself at a disadvantage. Don’t do that. It’s within your control.
Remember, look at everything from the customers’ eyes and view point.
You are not your customer and that’s a good thing, if you were you’d be the one paying instead of profiting, being a good and effective salesperson and business owner is also being a good and effective leader – all of these principles apply to every area of your life.
Think about that. Shortcuts, assumptions, pre-judging, and forgetting to see the other person’s perspective. Sounds like principles and life lessons for a lot more than just money and profit…
Here’s to your prosperity.
Scott
Category : Blog
