3 Things Your Customers Won’t Tell You … Unless You Ask
Posted October 1, 2007 in Marketing
When it comes to driving your business, you want to have two magical things happen:
- You want your customers to become even better customers
- You want those customers to tell people about you.
This magical one-two punch is what grows your business without inflating your expenses. But to get a handle on those two things requires you get the answers to three things your customers won’t tell you … unless you ask. Read on to discover the three questions that will reveal what you need to know to boost your bottom line.
#1 – Why Do You Enjoy Being My Customer?
Customers continue to do business with you for a number of reasons (good rates, great service, strong rapport), but it’s rare that they’ll volunteer this information without being asked. So ask them.
Find out what you’re doing right, and you can do two things:
- Do more of the things they like
- Discover patterns (what multiple customers/demographics like best)
Get the goods on this question, and you can turn your current customers into do-more-business-with-you customers.
#2 – What Else Do You Wish My Business Did?
Customers don’t just get products/services from you – they get other products/services before, during and after their transactions with you. Don’t miss this chance to cash in. Find out what else they want, and discover how you can give it to them:
- If it’s easy to do, you might consider selling it yourself.
- If it’s out of your business scope, make deals with trusted vendors and recommend them.
Either way, it’s a chance to tap into more revenue, potentially at a minimum of effort on your part. But you gotta ask.
#3 – Who Should You Tell About My Business?
People like doing business with you. And chances are high that they know others who would benefit as well … but they won’t volunteer this info off the top of their heads (most of the time). So make it networking with future clients easier by offering incentives like the ones you’ll find here.
Give people a good enough reason to spread the word about you, and they surely will. And when your good name becomes a standard of excellence that attracts new customers to you, the effort you put into creating it is money in the bank.
And that’s just good business.
What Questions Will You Ask Your Customers?
Take a quick second and add your great ideas to the conversation. I’ll see you there.
Dave
******
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About the author: Dave Navarro is a business productivity coach who loves showing freelancers how to make more money and have more time for themselves. Get more of the good stuff at Rock Your Day or follow Dave on Twitter.
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86 Comments
Limitless
October 2nd, 2007 at 11:10 amHi Jon! Thanks for your comment at StylishLabs and thanks for submitting your wonderful blog. We really think it’s great, I have chcked some of your articles and I found them really relevant, we’ll find the way to include FreelanceFolder in The Creative District
Limitless ∞
Grigory
October 2nd, 2007 at 2:29 pmI belive that the main thing should be always remembered – the customer is your employer, he is the real person who pays you the sallary and he should be treated in appropreate way.
Joe Pulizzi
October 2nd, 2007 at 4:21 pmDave…excellent post. We’ve worked with clients in the past on delivering consistent, valuable information to clients on a regular basis. If they do that, working in the above questions to clients becomes much easier. Great stuff!
John Achoukian
October 2nd, 2007 at 7:37 pmDave – I think that people who are excellent at satisfying their customers are unaware that they are always enhancing their level of customer satisfaction. You’re blog is right on, as it asks for that critical feedback on which to explore more opportunities.
Jonathan Field
October 2nd, 2007 at 7:52 pmSimple, but good advice. So many companies act like they don’t want to talk to their customers, and I find it unfortunate. The good news is that it leaves a lot of room for a scrappy customer-focused company to come in and get a foothold.
chris
October 2nd, 2007 at 9:03 pmGood advice, however in todays game of endless politics, you cannot always be expected to be told the truth. You really need to know the person before asking. If they do not normally express themselves freely, you will not get an honest answer. It could do more harm than good.
subcorpus
October 3rd, 2007 at 1:15 amnoted …
will try that sometime …
but am afraid that they might ask something that i can’t deliver …
oh well …
Andy
October 3rd, 2007 at 3:25 amGreat post. I think it’s also worth asking the opposite to get some useful insight from your trusted customers:
1) What do you dislike about our service?
2) What are you glad my business doesn’t do?
3) Who isn’t going to be interested in my services?
These questions give your customers a chance to complain and bad-mouth the competition which often helps loosen their tongues, giving you even more cheap market research.
Joy
October 3rd, 2007 at 12:07 pmThis article is really helpful..^^ Although I agree with Andy but still it’s ok to ask your customers what they really think about your business and service. By asking them, you will also show your customers that you care about their opinions.
Andy
October 3rd, 2007 at 4:12 pm@Joy: Yeah, I didn’t mean anyone should ignore Dave’s original questions.
I think that asking the essentially the same thing but framed from an opposite point of view can help get to the information we’re all looking for. Or maybe it’s just that businessmen in Leeds are particularly obstreperous ;-)
Again, kudos to the article author for an excellent talking point.
Chicago Website Design
October 5th, 2007 at 12:20 pmGreat post. I agree. In general fostering communication is great because it clears and ambiguities and assumptions you may make. Talking to the customer to find out what they want and need is of utmost importance. Another thing I find is that people can have false assumptions about who you are and what you do.
Megan
October 9th, 2007 at 8:59 pmGreat article. Its important to deliver what your customer needs. Happy customers means more happy customers. Get to know the person behind the product. Collecting data like that not only will you meet some great people but you will also know what kind of people are coming to your site who you should target.
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balidreamhome
October 19th, 2007 at 10:55 pmVery nice article, and indeed helps me to improve my customer service understandings !! Great website and great articles, thanks.
Andika Kusuma
November 18th, 2007 at 7:05 amwhat a nice tips… I never ask this kind of question before
kevin
January 18th, 2008 at 9:19 amyeah, I need to ask customers for feedback
–
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Klaus
May 5th, 2008 at 4:33 amExcellent questions!
Thanks for reminding ;-)
Pete
May 26th, 2008 at 1:10 amSomething I have never considered, we are so busy asking the question, what are we not doing, instead of what else can we do, great read
Vernon
March 13th, 2009 at 3:07 amYou can easily survey your customers if you have them on an e-mail list. Then with the click of a mouse you can direct them to SurveyMonkey.com or any other survey service and get the answers you’re asking for. You’ll save a lot of time, and can focus on doing the things you love about your business. Here is a great report on how to create an e-mail list.
Vu Tran
May 29th, 2009 at 12:40 amGreat post. I will definately take these tips into consideration.
Valerie
June 5th, 2009 at 11:28 amI’d like to hear *how* people ask these questions. I have some ideas, but I’d like to hear what other have used regularly and why.
Website Design Services
July 4th, 2009 at 5:58 pmGreat questions, but I would include the opposite. Asking about what they liked serves a great purpose, but asking what they don’t like helps improvement. It is all about improvement. You can improve greatly if you know your weaknesses.
rasel
July 30th, 2009 at 12:02 pmfucking great idea!
Joshua Fairfield
August 21st, 2009 at 6:19 pmAsk your Customer and getting to them on a real personal level and your in like a pair shoes.
Nic loves languages
September 19th, 2009 at 7:29 pmI love the simplicity of these. They make so much sense. Sometimes asking straight out is the best thing to do.
Phoenix personal injury attorney
October 21st, 2009 at 1:01 pmNeed a reminder sometimes, that the client can help you more than you know or they know if you’re willing to put the time in.
Home Job Advice
December 1st, 2009 at 2:39 pmGreat Blog! So many companies fail to ask what the customer wants! I think that every company should incorporate some type of newsletter or opt-in email list to follow up with their customers. :)
Angelee
April 15th, 2010 at 3:55 amI’ve read longer articles about “Customers” but I like this one better. Brief, concise and easy to grasp for real marketing implementation. “PROBING” is one great key so that we know what our customers would want more from us.
Cook
April 23rd, 2010 at 11:45 amit was really nice to read….cool
GobankingRates
May 12th, 2010 at 9:05 pmCheck out this articlce on 10 things your bank won’t tell you!http://www.gobankingrates.com/banking/10-secrets-your-bank-may-be-hiding-from-you-and-how-to-fight-back/
evlilik
July 8th, 2010 at 7:00 pmThanks for this useful tips
Elaine Huckabay
July 10th, 2010 at 5:34 pmAwesome! I was just scrolling down to comment on what an excellent and to-the-point post this was when I saw the author. I’m not at all surprised – you consistently deliver amazing work, Dave. Keep it up!
fireRoxy
July 14th, 2010 at 5:50 amyes! one great article more with very useful tips for us, freelancers. thanks for the post.
Bret Juliano
July 14th, 2010 at 5:08 pmGood read, nice and straightforward. I like that in a freelance article. I especially like the question, “What Else Do You Wish My Business Did?” I am going to start asking my clients, past and present, this question and then I will have a better idea of what new technology I can experiment with and use to develop my business.
Bulgaristanda Egitim
August 17th, 2010 at 2:31 pmtake easy
Stella Aghenie
September 12th, 2010 at 4:10 pmFaith,Fear ^ Attitude, Our attitude can influence our faith. It’s up to us to influence our decisions today, to make a future we’re dreaming about. Our attitude can change everything. And we can get a lot of information based on the personal development from this blog…
Arif Saeed
November 24th, 2010 at 4:07 amits going in my must do list. Simple but useful things to do :)
Contractors
December 17th, 2010 at 10:18 amWhat else do you wish my business did is a great question to ask.
Bring The Fresh
January 20th, 2011 at 8:20 pmThis has shed some light on the matter for me definitely and I intend to use this in the future. Well done a very simple and concise post. Looking forward to learning more from reading your blog.
Vekta
March 1st, 2011 at 4:02 pmDave, excellent post! I’d like to know what my client’s budget is and how much they have been quoted for from other freelance web designers. :))
wall art
March 25th, 2011 at 10:51 amMany thanks for the useful tips.
Jew Mark
March 27th, 2011 at 11:24 amCustomers are blood line of company so you must care them not they care you!
web development bangalore
May 9th, 2011 at 8:02 amGood article , Thanks for sharing this tricks
dbe certification
May 20th, 2011 at 2:31 pmThese are three straight to the point questions that every business owner should ask each of their clients. Most businesses have no idea why their customers buy from them. Knowing these answers helps you serve your customers better.
8a certification
May 20th, 2011 at 2:33 pmAt the end of each year we send a out a smll ten question survey to all our clients. The servery helps us get a better understanding of not only who our customers are but how we can better server them.
Michael Cordova
May 25th, 2011 at 9:39 pmI would recommend a long term approach. Treat the client as you would like to be treated including spending time to listen to their concerns and explaining your service to them in detail that they can understand.
Finally, do not be afraid to ask them to spread the word. Many times they will not know you want them to do that unless you ask.
kaltech solutions
July 5th, 2011 at 7:17 amGood one, I should try this with my clients.
Martin Varesio
July 21st, 2011 at 7:55 amTreat the client as you would like to be treated including spending time to listen to their concerns and explaining your service!!
Cory Lyna
September 21st, 2011 at 2:42 amEvery time I creat an image in my head when I have to deal with customers: how I want to be treaded when I am a customer.And that works cause I know how I feel when I’m treaded well as a customer and when I’m not. I try to please them at every step.
siergrind
October 4th, 2011 at 4:07 pmNice article! Thanks for this
John
October 18th, 2011 at 2:41 pmSome customers might be reluctant to volunteer such information when presented with the question “What else do you wish my business did?”. This is a great article, but I think you can take it one step further and get real, non-sugarcoated information if you allow users to submit a confidential form online. I think people are more inclined to give better feedback that way.
Verizon FiOS
November 2nd, 2011 at 11:30 amWhen companies get big they seem to forget about the customer experience. For start ups, it is so important to focus on customer satisfaction since the brand is unknown and the best advertising tool is word of mouth. Once the business becomes well known, the brand will begin to sell itself but that doesn’t mean that you let up on customer satisfaction. So many large corporations are playing clean up on with their customer service experience because they finally figured out how much money they were loosing by “forgetting about” their customers. Start out with excellent customer satisfaction and keep it that way, no matter how annoying those customers are.
Diana Cocos
November 18th, 2011 at 1:26 pmThe first question is a “must ask”!
melanie
November 21st, 2011 at 5:04 amAfter reading your post, as a customer I now learned that the customers always have the right to complain for bad services of some businesses in any kind of industry.
And as a customer, I won’t wait for the seller to ask things about their products rather to say my what aspects their products contributed to my daily life…
nice…
HYIP
February 3rd, 2012 at 2:01 pmHello There. I found your blog using msn. This is an extremely well written article. I will be sure to bookmark it and come back to read more of 3 Things Your Customers Won’t Tell You … Unless You Ask | FreelanceFolder . Thanks for the post. I will definitely return.
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February 3rd, 2012 at 2:01 pmHello There. I found your blog using msn. This is an extremely well written article. I will make sure to bookmark it and come back to read more of 3 Things Your Customers Won’t Tell You … Unless You Ask | FreelanceFolder . Thanks for the post. I’ll definitely return.
Mark
March 3rd, 2012 at 5:54 amExcellent tips.
orfebreria
March 5th, 2012 at 10:15 pmI won’t wait for the seller to ask things about their products rather to say my what aspects their products contributed to my daily
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March 29th, 2012 at 8:24 amI enjoy your writing style genuinely enjoying this website. “Fools make researches and wise men exploit them.” by H. G. Wells.
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Ino
May 10th, 2012 at 10:21 amGreat post and information! It can also help you on how to improve your business to satisfy your customers.
I also found effective tips in handling business expenses at http://www.thecommoncents.com/
Project Tracking Software
May 21st, 2012 at 4:27 pmYes, feedback on services or products is something that customers dont provide often to the company or the person who is dealing with them. We often ask them for the feedback.
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