“I think we have the most awesome showroom in town.”
“I think we bake the best pies around.”
“I think we have great customer service.”
“I think my sister-in-law does a great job running our front desk.”
“I think our website is awesome.”
Starting to get the picture? The words “I think” could be the most dangerous words for your business. I know as a business owner, you have a lot invested in your business. You also need to be happy in and with your business, but don’t forget that what your customers think is very important to your bottom line.
Marketing is a communication, an ongoing dialog between you and the people who patron your business. It’s okay for you to think, but don’t let your thoughts be the only thoughts that matter. Talk to your customers, find out what they think.
{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
Hi Jen,
I must say, I was heading in a different direction with your post when I first started reading it! I totally agree with what you’ve recommended: gather input from our customers/clients and make sure what we “think” is what they “perceive”. That said, once we gain that insight, we should feel confident to share what we “know” and speak with confidence about our product or our business. Glad I found your blog!
Hi Erica – Thanks for your comments! Glad to have you as a reader!
Great post! More people should heed this advice! Obviously you think your business is great or you wouldn’t have invested the time and money into it. There is nothing more valuable than honest, even potentially critical feedback! Anyone ever seen Kitchen Nighmares? Business owners can become blind to any problems they may have and need to remember that it is important to re-evaluate your business model on a yearly basis to make sure you are still relevant. As an example, we wouldn’t want our physicians to practice medicine the same way they did 10 years ago so why should that be the case with anything else?
Thanks for sharing!
Jennifer Pereyra
Author, Mommy & Daddy Work to Make Some Dough
http://www.Jenniferpereyra.tateauthor.com
Jen, great advice indeed!
We have to constantly monitor how our customers perceive us. Relying only on our hunches can create blind spots, and because market needs are changing so rapidly, we can easily fall behind.
We have to implement some sort of system to determine how our customers REALLY see us. A simple survey sent to different subsets of customers could do the trick?
Any other ideas?
Hi Danilo,
Thanks for your comments. Simple surveys are good. I find just taking some time to actually talk to customers is a great way to get feedback. You can learn a lot from taking a client some bagels for the office in the morning. (Obviously, I am B2B, this could be modified for B2C)
Also, don’t underestimate the power of social media for these opportunities. I am a big fan of crowdsourcing via this method.
Thanks again!
Jennifer
It is a fine line of trying to show confidence in your items or skills and yet not sound conceited or self-absorbed. Thank you for the reminder!