How Well Do You Really Know Your Customers?

If you think about some of your oldest and closest friends, you’ll probably notice what I do when I’m hanging out with mine. That is- you know each other so well that you can often leave a lot unsaid and still have an amazing conversation.

I had this exchange the other day with two friends I’ve known for twenty seven years. It went like this (we were talking about another friend who we’ve all known for the same amount of time but who wasn’t there):

Matt: Hey, do you think Doug would want to come?

Tom: You know he would! Remember when he couldn’t, before…

Adam: Right- and how mad he was?

Matt: Oh, yeah- but we didn’t ask because that was the year his wife had that thing…

Tom- Yep, and his son had his stuff, too, so he definitely couldn’t have made it.  

The beauty of this conversation was we all knew exactly what we meant and no further clarification was needed.

The same thing happens at home. My wife was trying to remember the name of my son’s favorite dinosaur and she described it to us as “You know, the one with the tail?” Of course, we ribbed her mercilessly because, well- try to name a dinosaur that doesn’t have a tail! At the same time though- all three of us knew exactly which one she meant- it was an Ankylosaurus.

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When you are talking to people who are already on the same page as you it’s much easier to get into deeper and more meaningful conversations and communicate clearly with less effort.

The same thing is true with your customers. If you know and understand your customers on a deep level you can speak directly to them in a way that your competition isn’t doing. You can quickly build rapport and trust and they will know that you are in the best position to help because you really understand their situation and what they care about.

If you don’t really get them and don’t know what makes them happy (or mad) then chances are you aren’t going to be nearly as good at winning their business. You’ll be pitching the wrong benefits and not really addressing their concerns. You’ll have to work really hard to sell them, as opposed to just showing them how you can help.

So how do you make sure you get your customers and they can in turn appreciate you?

How to Work With Customers Who Get You and Vice Versa

Well, like most of the things I write about, the answer is actually pretty simple.

Ask them!

Well, first of all, it helps if you have a good understanding of your customer’s mindset to begin with. Whatever you sell, product or service, ideally you are already very familiar with it from all angles but especially including as a customer yourself.

This is where the old Venture Capital adage of “eat your own dog food” comes in- are you a user of your own product or service? If not, why the heck not? Pretend you are the customer and try it out- order it like they do, wait for it to arrive, open the box, try to follow the directions, put it to the test. If at any point it is hard to use, complicated, annoying, inconvenient, etc. then those are areas you can work on fixing immediately.

Really put yourself in the shoes of your customer- be your own customer. Then, once you know your own offering inside and out, start having honest, real time conversations with your customers about their experiences. What problem were they trying to solve when they came to you? What other solutions did they consider? What factors were important in their choices?

Take note of what you hear over and over and what items are unique. Notice who you can sync with the most and which situations are kind of a stretch or you’re just not as well suited for helping.

The better you understand your customer- not just what they say at first but what their actions tell you they really care about and what they say when you can get them to be totally candid- the easier it is to work with them. You’ll find yourself having conversations with them that sound like the ones you have with your friends.

You can tailor your marketing material to these very specific points and your sales pitches to cover these exact things you know they care about. You can also start to weed out customers who just aren’t going to be a good fit because they’re focused on things that aren’t the thing you are most about.

The time invested in really getting to know, understand, and connect with your current customers is going to pay off a ton when it comes to finding and bringing in new customers. Businesses that don’t really understand well who they serve or what their customers like about them (and what they don’t like) are going to make mistakes and have a much harder time growing.

Don’t assume and don’t take for granted that you know what your customers want and care about unless you’ve spent time asking them and getting to know them so well you can finish their sentences.

For example- suppose you are a mechanic and own a brake shop. You might start out assuming what customers want for you is brakes on their car working perfectly. And they do want that. But as much, or even more, what they might want is a clean and comfy waiting area, transparent and upfront pricing, and very clear expectations on exactly how long the wait is going to be. Just delivering quality work on their car brakes may actually be falling pretty short of what your customers care about!

So, make sure you know your customers well and you are working with the ones who understand and value what you offer them and vice versa. The better you really know your customers the better and faster your business will grow.