There’s a lot of noise out there.  As a small business owner, you might be struggling to attract more customers. You know you have something valuable to offer, but you can’t figure out why more of your prospective clients, and maybe even your current clients, don’t recognize this.

The key is to know exactly who you are providing your product or service to, and then offer them exactly what they want to buy! Easier said than done, you say? Never fear, I’m about to reveal the exact method that we use with all of our clients to produce business changing – dare I say life changing – results.

In my last blog post, I gave you 5 Keys to Magnetize Your Marketing and Attract Your Best Clients. One of those keys is to find out what your Top Clients care about the most, and create a Unique Offering that matches it. Notice that I am saying “Top Clients,”  not “all clients.” These are your best clients that you would like to replicate over and over again, and the way to do that is to define who they are and design your offering to appeal specifically to them. I explain how to identify your Top Clients in more detail in the post Why You Must Know Who Your Top Clients Are.

Once you know who your Top Clients are, the next question to ask yourself is “what am I really selling them?” For example, if you sell skin care products, you might really be selling your customers soothing relief, or a healthy glow, or youthfulness. Whole Foods is not just selling groceries, they are selling a health and wellness lifestyle. Uber is not just selling taxi rides, they are selling uber convenience.

So how do you know what you are really selling your best customers? Very simple – you ask them!

A word of caution, while I know that tools like Survey Monkey have made it very easy for any company to survey their customers, I beg you not to go that route, unless of course you want to be just like all the other companies out there. One very good reason not to send a survey – your results will be limited to only those who see it and are willing to fill it out. You have no control over who you get your answers from, and you won’t know who they’re from either.

Ordinary companies send surveys. If you want to be extraordinary, then you must actually talk to your Top Customers. I know this is more time consuming and even a little scarier, but I promise you the results are worth it. An impersonal survey can never replace what you learn from a personal conversation. And I am not suggesting that you speak to all of your clients, only your very best 5 – 10 clients.

If you are wondering how you are going to get your Top Clients to take the time to talk to you, it’s all in the approach. Instead of bribing them to fill out a survey, you will email or call your client, tell him/her that their business is really important to you, that you are looking for ways to serve them even better, and could you have a few minutes of their time to get their opinion about how you can do that? Most people love to be asked for their personal opinion, and will gladly speak with you.

Once you get your customer on the phone or in person, you will want to ask them questions in a very specific way.

1.  Start by asking them what your company is doing right. This question is really important because it tells you what they notice about your business, what they really care about.

2. Do NOT ask them what your company is doing wrong or what you can do better. This question puts your client in an awkward position, and you might not always get an honest answer.

Instead, ask them what they don’t like about your industry. Ask them if they have had any negative experiences with other companies in your industry (they don’t have to name names). What product or service do they wish your industry would provide? They are much more likely to tell you the truth if it’s not personal. And interestingly, what we’ve found over and over again is that your client will often use this opportunity to tell you what your company is doing right that others in your industry are doing wrong. Pure gold!

3. Once you have interviewed your Top Clients, comb through their answers and look for the common threads. What positive traits have most of your clients noticed about your company? What don’t they like about your industry that you can improve on? Perhaps they’ve noticed your exceptionally friendly service, or your quick turnaround time, or your ultra convenient ordering system. Whatever they have noticed, this is what you are really selling!

Now that you know what’s really important to your Top Clients, you are going to do two things:

1. Make sure that all of your marketing, social media content and sales conversations emphasize this quality that makes you stand out to your Top Clients.

2. Don’t sit on your laurels! Now that you know what your Top Clients really want and what they are really buying from you, find ways to constantly improve in this area. Tweak what you offer and how you offer it to match what your Top Clients really care about. Find ways to continually outshine your competition in this area. If your interview uncovered wants and needs that your industry is not adequately addressing, deliver a product or service that fills those gaps. Do this, and you will be offering exactly what your customers want to buy, and your business will grow accordingly!

If you would like expert guidance evaluating your Top Clients, preparing your interview questions, analyzing your answers, brainstorming how to apply what you’ve learned,  or with anything else related to growing your business, you’re in the right place! Click through for a Complimentary Consultation with a Certified Provendus Growth Strategist!

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