Three ways to measure customer satisfaction

“Our customers love us, we have never had a complaint.” Ahem.  The speaker, here, is drawing a rather unscientific conclusion. Just because clients have never complained, does not necessarily mean that they love the service they are getting.  To be able to say “Our customers love us”, collect some empirical evidence using one of the…

Read More

Why it is time to stop selling

There is no money in sales.  No, really.  Think about it: you can sell, and sell, and sell. But at what point do you actually make money? When somebody else buys.  The money is in the action of buying, not the action of selling.  Before you build a sales plan, understand how your clients buy. …

Read More

Why you don’t want to sell quality

Look through the language you use to talk about your business.  Consider your website, your pitches, your business cards, your brochures, the way you introduce yourself at events and in interviews.  Now review all that language asking yourself a single question: what’s the alternative? “Quality” is not a quality message Imagine that you are about…

Read More

How to describe the technical benefits of your service

Your clients want to know what’s in it for them when they buy from you.  They want to know the benefits of using your service.  Note the plural use of the word: there are always multiple benefits and as a business owner or leader, you must know what they are.  Last time (link above) we…

Read More

How to use WIIFM (what’s in it for them)

Trust your customers to know what they want.  And when you sell to other businesses, those are mainly business-related achievements.  But businesses are still run by people, and people are ultimately driven by the WIIFM urge.  Saying “what’s in it for me” conjured too many negative stereotypes, so allow me to debunk this impression right…

Read More

What are your clients thinking about when they buy from you

The answer is: it’s not about you.  So how do your customers buy? Deciding to buy something means knowing that choice is the best option; using the money there instead of somewhere else, hoping it will be a long-term solution, considering what else has to change to accept this new product and more.  The better…

Read More

Yes: Your Clients Know What They Want

It is a common refrain:  “My clients come to me without knowing what they want. But I listen and learn and then I can guide them.” There are two sentences there, and only one of them is correct.  What clients want When I come across a client expressing this sentiment I always pause for a…

Read More