Try To See Things From the Customer’s Perspective
Posted by Dave Mace at 11:39 pm
A dipper? A Bear? A meat cleaver? Depending on your perspective, you might see something completely different.
Gazing up at the night sky, I couldn’t help but think how people in different parts of the world down through history have viewed what we call, “The Big Dipper,” as many different objects with many meanings. It’s been called the bear, the cat, the wagon, the saucepan, and depending on the time of year, it appears in one of four different rotations. How you see Ursa Major and what it means to you depends on your perspective.
Perspective, as in how one “sees” things, can be either a tremendous opportunity or a tremendous hindrance in negotiations and relationships. In the words of leadership guru Stephen Covey, “Seek first to understand, then to be understood.” Nowhere should this advice be applied more heavily than in the way small businesses communicate to customers.
My good friend and management expert Vincent Amanor-Boadu teaches business owners to think from the outside-in, rather than from the inside-out. This forces us to consider what the market wants and take a customer-centered approach to our product offerings and our messaging. In the parlance of Covey, when we seek to understand customers, we stand a better chance of winning their hearts, minds and discretionary income.
How many times have you tuned out the advertising that is yelling at you about all the reasons you should buy a product or service? If you can’t remember the last time this happened, it’s probably because you’re just as likely to completely tune out this kind of promotion. Does any particular Wichita small business or marketing campaign come to mind?
You don’t have to do things this way. Don’t use the siding and window installers, the attorneys or the car dealerships as the models for your Wichita marketing efforts. These companies use what I call brute force marketing. Their budgets are large enough that they can run basically the same message as loudly and as often as they possibly can. And have you ever noticed how they’re the ones in their ads and you never see their customers?
This paradigm is shifting as Web 2.0 and social media are now defining how customers interact with the companies and brands they love. Many small businesses in Wichita are embracing this technology and hooking up with people who know how to help them get the most from it. The game has changed because it’s easier than ever to hear and see what customers want directly and in real time.
Still, most Wichita small businesses are not taking advantage of these tools and how they create more sincere connections with customers through better understanding.
You have a choice every day. You can try to convince customers that you’re great. Or you can let them tell you what they want. You can scream at customers on TV or get lost among dozens of print ads. Or you can chat with them online via Facebook. It’s your choice, and you can get way out in front of your competition if you do it now.
