What Do Your Customers Really Want?

Apart from the obvious that is.

When marketing your brand the more you know what your customers want the easier it is to have a strong relationship.

If you have been in business a while and you have a strong group of loyal customers then you would know what they like and dislike.

However it is often a trap when you are starting out to generalize or base your assumptions on what you think or hear customers actually want.

Here are a few areas to consider:

Customers want to be educated

Says who? Not all customers want to be educated they may just want the job done.

Customers want to be involved

Some do and some don't. Remember clients especially small businesses juggle a lot of balls and the job you are delivering may not be the key focus for them.

Customers like you to be interested in their business

Just like in personal relationships if the other person is interested in knowing about you the more you get interested in them. As a suggestion have you ever considered spending time in their business or meeting their customers?

They do not want to know your problems

I know this sounds one way but they usually do not care if you are swamped with work.  In the end they are focused on what they want done.

Of course great clients know if you are good then you will be in demand and this can be reflected in the time they give you to complete jobs.

Customers expect you to meet the brief

If a client has given you a brief or even filled out one of yours then make sure at a minimum you deliver on the job description. Never ignore it even if you have a better idea.

You can always present an additional idea or even discuss the idea before presenting.

Consider getting rid by billing by the hour

Luckily it seems more service providers are moving away from this method. As a client is very difficult to budget expenses when you have no idea how much it is going to cost. If they do not give you a budget then provide clients with a cost estimate with a buffer of 10% so they are not surprised and you are getting paid for the work done.

Also make sure they sign off on cost estimates to avoid any conflicts down the track.

As a customer or as a service provider what do you think customers really want?

Thanks to Susan Oakes / Marketing for Business Success Pty Ltd
http://www.m4bmarketing.com/do-your-customers-really-want/