What Our Customers Don’t Care About…Or Do They?

Straight from the pages of RISmedia comes these Nine Things Consumers Won’t Care About in the New Year.  Jimmy Vee and Travis Miller who co-authored Gravitational Marketing: The Science Of Attracting Customers (John Wiley & Sons) provide the list.

The Top 9 Things Customers Don’t Care About:

9. How good you are at what you do. They only care about how good you are at who you are and how you can help them get what they want.  I would add that they care how good you are at what you do as it pertains to them specifically.

8. Your education, your certifications or your designations. They only care about how what you know can help make their lives more enjoyable, simple and prosperous.  Agree.

7. Your brand. They only care that the experience of doing business with you is sensational.  Agree, but your brand can be a powerful means of meeting potential customers.  It can also be a way in which your prospective client base can "get to know you." (i.e. a blog as a branding tool)

6. You saying you have great service. They only care about getting great service.  Agree.  Actions speak louder than words as always.

5. How much you charge. They care about getting value for their money.  This is client specific but I do agree that if you provide stellar service, people feel much better about paying you.

4. How you feel today. They care about feeling good themselves and having a positive day.  Agree.  I recently was out of the office with back spasms that completely immobilized me.  One of my prospective sellers didn’t care and hired another agent to sell her home (for the record, that agent priced the property almost 20% higher than me and the property languishes on the market today.)

3. Why you can’t do something. They only care about fast, easy solutions. Agree which is why management of expectations is such a key factor in a successful transaction.

2. How long you’ve been in business. They only care about how you can solve their problems under today’s conditions.  Another client specific issue.  I’m finding that many of my sellers and buyers feel time in the market is indeed important as they are seeking expertise which often only comes with time.

1. How cool or slick your marketing looks. They care about how your product or service can save them time, relieve them of pain, help their family or put money in their bank account.  They want your "slick marketing" only if they believe that it will help them sell their property.

Overall this is an insightful list that is helpful in determining what should and shouldn’t be highlighted in our 2008 business plans.

“The major reason for these first quarter flops is that small business owners don’t take the time to find out what their customers care about and desire,” says executive business and marketing coach Jimmy Vee. “The entrepreneur dreams up, creates and rolls out what they want to sell…not what their customers want to buy. It’s a complete mismatch.”