Earlier this month I was writing about the importance of meeting customers desires not needs (Oct. 2). But how do we learn which is which—a customer need or a customer desire? Well, start by listening.The first stage of getting to know your customers and the motivations behind their behavior is to engage in effective listening. Effective listening also happens to be a defining factor of any successful two-way conversation—the importance of which we discussed in yesterday’s post. (BTW, when I say “customers” I am using this as shorthand, for the sake of blog-space, to mean your customers, potential customers, and stakeholders—anyone who has vital influence on the success of your business.)
How To Begin
Here’s what NOT to do: begin by spouting off all the "very important, need-to-know" things we have to tell our customers. Just as this is a turn-off in our personal lives, it is also ineffective in business relationships. As I said yesterday, the easiest way to open a conversation with, well, anyone, is to ask a question. I’m sure every self-respecting business person can think of lots questions they’d like their customers to answer. However, it’s best to start with one they can answer. This is a common error in marketing research; all too frequently enthusiastic marketing, product development, or R&D personnel go out to “listen” to their customers and the first thing they do is to ask them about some prototype-idea-strategy-thing-y that doesn’t exist yet and may or may not do this or that. Wrong. Start by asking people about them.
The Questions
These need not be deep, intimate questions either. (At least, not at first.) You can start with simple things: what were the last three purchases they made that made them feel over-the-moon satisfied? How do they typically first hear about new products or events in your industry? Or better yet, if you're really willing to invest the time to get know your cutomers, ask even more basic questions that will begin to reveal who they are in terms of needs, fears, and desires. You want to learn what your customers do, how they spend their time, what they watch or read, and how they play or relax. You want to know how, when, and where they like to shop; what they save money for; and what they are most likely to splurge on. Then, as trust grows, build to asking questions like: What do you usually talk about with your friends? What keeps you up at night? What would you most like to change about your life right now? Some of the most useful information often comes from humble sources: What do your customers currently have on their coffee table? What adorns their refrigerator door? What office ritual is most enjoyable to them? Questions like these result in insights that will fuel your ability to identify and fulfill customer desires better than your competitors. They may seem less-than-relevant but trust me: they are most relevant.
Remember, you are engaged with your customers in a relationship of mutual interdependence and what affects one party will influence to some degree the other. The better you know your dance partner, the easier to not just avoid stepping on toes (needs) but to dance the dance of their dreams (desires).
The next three posts will cover, respectively, how to listen, what to listen for, and how to make sense of what you hear.
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