Yesterday, I posted about talking about what you do. An important part of talking about what you do, and marketing your services in general, is understanding what your customer is really buying.
People don’t want to buy insurance. They don’t want to buy legal or accounting services. They purchase protection. They may be buying compliance, relief from worry, the ability to communicate, or the ability to make money and provide for their family.
Not to make this about me, but now one really wants to buy marketing services. They want to grow their business to help them achieve their personal and professional goals. They want more customers and most don’t want to become full time marketers in the process.
In addition to understanding why customers buy your services, you also need to understand why they would buy them from you. I’m guessing that you don’t have a monopoly on the services you provide. So why should someone buy from you vs. the next guy down the road who claims to do exactly what you do?
Is it because you serve others in their industry and have special insights into their needs? Maybe your customers prefer working with you because you don’t speak legalese. Is it how you charge – flat rate vs. by the hour?
Don’t try to guess what is going on in your customer’s head – ask. Start by identifying a handful of customers that you consider ideal (our goal is to find more customers just like them) and find out why they buy from you. Ask them why they selected you in the first place. Why do they continue working with you? Do they refer you to others? Why or why not? You may be surprised to find that what makes you special isn’t your advanced degrees, or your years of experience, or the fact that you have the latest and greatest software.
In fact, it may be the fact that you take time to talk to your customers to find out what is important to them.
