Would you give your customers worms for lunch?

We hope not! But you probably wouldn’t fish with a strawberry either, would you?

The following is a poignant message from one of our training consultants, Beth Bressan, we should all remember.

My son and I went fishing on a recent trip to Florida. We got a boat, set up all of our gear, and headed out for the day. My son baited his hook with a worm. I reached into my lunch box, pulled out a strawberry, and put it onto my hook. My son glanced over and gave me one of those looks only a teenager can give his (hopeless) mother and rolled his eyes, asking, “What exactly are you doing?” I replied that I thought the fish would prefer to eat strawberries instead of worms, I certainly would. He gave a heavy sigh and replied, “Mom, you have to offer the fish what they want, not what you’d prefer.”

As I thought about this exchange, I realized that his advice was not only valid for fishing but for selling as well. We too often approach our customers from our perspective, which products we need to sell, how to reach our quota, and so forth, rather than the customer’s perspective. What does your customer need? What do they want? How do they want it? In other words, we need to meet our customers where they are, on their terms, to maximize our chances of creating a solid connection.

We often hear about being customer-focused or, as it’s sometimes called, “customer-centric.” The origin of the word “customer” derives in part from the Latin “sui” or “suus” meaning “oneself.”

We must consider that our customers may not want strawberries. That, perhaps, our customers prefer something else and if you plan on selling to them, give them worms if that is what they want, figuratively speaking of course!

Join us this week in our upcoming interactive online workshops as we explore how to fulfill and surpass customer expectations and preferences.

Attend our upcoming 60-minute workshops:

Contact, Connect, and Communicate with Customers

1 Hour - Wednesday, March 23, 2022, at 11:00 AM Eastern / 8:00 AM Pacific: $149.00 per person. If you cannot attend at this time, register, and we will send you a recording of the session.

?Listening

1 Hour - Friday, April 1, 2022 at 3:00 PM Eastern / 12:00 PM Pacific: $149.00 per person. If you cannot attend at this time, register, and we will send you a recording of the session.