The other day I got a call from Rich, who owns a small accounting firm with 6 employees. Rich and I met at some business event a while back and chatted a few times since.
He said, “Dov, I’ve got a fair number of small business clients and a handful of big ones. I want more big companies. What can I do to get more of them?”
I said, “Simple. You need to find out what the big ones want and let them know that you can give it to them. Essentially, that’s it. Once you know what they want, it becomes a question of what tactics to use to get in front of them.”
He said, “I know what they want. They want good money-saving tax advice and professional service. We do that.”
I said, “Look, Rich. Do you know any accounting firm that doesn’t claim to offer good money saving tax advice and professional service?”
First, silence. Then a hesitant admission: “No.”
“Right. So you need to peel some more layers off the onion. You need to understand the nuances your ideal customers really care about. If every accounting firm promises money-saving tax advice and professional service, you need to understand why the best clients still choose one over the other. Make sense?”
“OK. I guess so. So how do I do that?”
I said, “Simple. Call up your best clients and ask them these three “customer mind reading” questions. They’re very straightforward:
- Why did you start doing business with my firm?
- Why have you continued with my firm?
- What can we do to be even more valuable to you going forward?
“Listen very carefully to what they say. I’d get permission to record the call. Relistening to their answers will help you pick up on nuances and patterns and then you’ll know exactly how to appeal to other clients just like them.”
“I can’t do that!” Rich said. “If I ask questions like that, it will open a can of worms!”
Now reflect on Rich’s reaction for a minute. He refused to ask his best clients why they worked with him and what he could do to be more valuable to them. He was afraid he may hear complaints.
“Rich, if your clients have issues with you, they have issues with you. Wouldn’t you rather know about their issues now, when you can do something to fix them? Otherwise you’ll only find out about them when they call to tell you they’re moving to a new firm!”
But Rich wouldn’t do it. He was too scared. He preferred the illusion of security to the uncomfortable reality.
Joan, on the other hand, is a true Alchemist Entrepreneur™. She owns a four employee graphic design firm. After 10 years in the business, she’s ready to turn it into an operation that does more than provide a steady level of stress. She wants a business that frees her up to live life on her terms.
And unlike Rich, Reality doesn’t scare her.
So Joan called her three best customers and asked them each these questions.
What she learned surprised her.
She said “All along, I knew that service was really important. That’s why we’re very quick to get back to clients. It’s why we’re not just technical gofers who create nice designs and brochures for our clients. We’re thought partners. We initiate. We’re there to connect design work to the bigger picture needs of our clients.”
“Funny enough, I still thought that the most important thing to my clients was a professional design. So in my marketing and selling I always focused on the quality of our design work. But now I understand that nice design has become a commodity. Our competition can’t easily imitate the thought and attention we put into each client. So we need to convey this more prominently in our marketing and selling.”
The courage to face Reality is one of the three foundation principles of The Alchemist Entrepreneur. We’re tested daily.
When you face Reality you can make it work for you. You can Leverage it. (Leverage is the third principle.) But if you fear it and hide from it, you eventually break yourself against it.
There’s no question about it. Asking questions like these may be uncomfortable and even scary. It’s also a reminder that it doesn’t really take much to stand out in the business world: Just do the simple, uncomfortable things that most entrepreneurs prefer to ignore.
Can you relate to this? Then go and ask these three “Mind Reading” questions to your best customers.
Dov
