| What does your customer really want? |
| While I was at the dentist last month, I overheard my dentist discussing another patient's need for dental implants with an oral surgeon he had recommended to the patient. The oral surgeon and my dentist were talking just outside the doorway to the room I was waiting in, so the conversation was pretty hard to ignore. |
| My dentist asked the surgeon when he could schedule the patient to have teeth implanted on one side of his mouth. The oral surgeon had already seen the patient at least once, apparently, and had the x-rays and other information he needed, but told my dentist he'd work up a treatment plan and contact the patient and go over the treatment plan. |
My dentist said, "The man can't chew his food. How soon can you get him scheduled in? The oral surgeon didn't answer the question, and just repeated that he'd contact the patient after he had developed his treatment plan. This time, in exasperation, my dentist told the surgeon, "He doesn't need a treatment plan. He needs some teeth to chew with." |
| Whether you're a dentist, human resource consultant, owner of an auto repair shop or high-end boutique, you'll have happier customers, get more referrals and be more successful if you focus on what the customer wants to buy - not what you want to do or sell. |
| What the customer really wants to buy isn't always the features or the benefits they say they want or that you think they want, either. The customer, who's looking for a dress to wear to a wedding, isn't really looking for a pretty dress. She's looking for a dress that will make her look pretty. The 60-year man looking for a "comfortable" car may not care whether or not the car they buy has heated leather seats. Instead they may be looking for a vehicle that lets him get in and out without hurting his back. |
| The best way to find out what your customers really want is to ask. Listen closely to their initial answers, and then ask new questions that probe more deeply. |
| J. Attard |
| |
| |
| |
| |
| |
