The Power of Too’s
” He was too New York, too Italian and had too many wives.” ~ Dorothy Kaliades
Ms. Kaliades was speaking about former presidential hopeful, Rudy Giuliani, but she could have been talking about you as a salesperson, your company or your marketing campaign.
I’ll guarantee that you’re too something. Your company is too something. Your website is too something and your marketing is too something.
Guaranteed.
But what are you too much of ?
Well obviously you don’t know and can’t see it or you’d fix it. Or would you ?
If your clients or customers think you’re too something, do you care enough to change ? Or do you think you’re smarter than they are, so you won’t worry about it ?
Most people, most companies think exactly that way. They don’t care what their customer thinks. They don’t care what their clients think.
They mistakenly think there’s plenty more clients and customers where that one came from, so we’ll stay the way we are and wait for our ideal customer.
Good luck to you, my friend, because it’s 2008 and the belts are getting tightened up a notch or two all over.
Advertisers are going to waste fewer dollars on silly ads and ask for ads that actually try to sell their product and not win an award for the ad company.
Sales managers are going to keep the cream of their crop and cut the waste. They’ll spread their prize winners a bit thinner and ask ‘em to cover more ground.
Customers are going to avoid the companies that are too something and wait for their porridge to be just right, instead of accepting porridge that’s too hot or too cold.
So what can you do find out if you’re too something for your customers, your readers or clients ?
Not only will they appreciate it, they’ll show their love by giving you what you want…their money.
If you need help asking your customer base or prospects what they want, simply ask me using the Contact form and I’ll try to help you.
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3 Responses to “The Power of Too’s”
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Great example of SIMPLE nomics. Sales people spend a lot of time theorizing, strategizing, tacticizing, and extemporizing when all they have to do is ask a simple question.
well this is a first…….i don’t actually FULLY agree with you. I don’t believe that you could please all of the people all of the time. I would say that the challenge of selling in the 21st century is getting to know your clients personalities. With voice-mail, e-mail, and EDI etc, it is getting harder and harder to know which customers are complaining because they want to, who is complaining because they have a valid point and who is complaining because that’s what they do about everything in their lives. While I agree with the principal of learning from your clients, I believe that the information is MUCH more valuable when you really understand what makes them tick.It is IMPERATIVE that we ask the questions, but if we really know our clients, then the answers will be far more useful.
Thanks Brad. Glad you see what I failed to mention
Hey Jamie - You probably agree more than you know, because I failed to fully explain the concept.
Asking the first question is only the start. That’s the ‘How Wide’ do we want this hole part. The real meat is when find out ‘How Deep’ the hole is before you find the gold.
My bad for not writing a ginormous post with subheads and all that, but then again, then it wouldn’t be simple
You are absolutely correct in your thinking and I failed to mention that I was attempting to get people started with one of the basic rules of serving the customer, which is asking what they’re trying to get accomplished.
Not what do they need, not what do they want, but what are you trying to accomplish.
Thanks for adding to and making me add to the gist of the post.