A client doesn’t know what they want until you show them. That’s a lesson I learned long before I started coaching trades businesses.
Where I first learned a client doesn’t know what they want
I remember listening to Steve Jobs (one of my many idols in life) talk about the iPod, before and during his epic Apple press conference on the release of the device.
Those old enough to remember walkmans and portable CD players may remember the excitement. This great man said those famous words….
“1000 songs in your pocket”
Oh my god! what the heck! How the F???? were words that came out my mouth looking at this pretty little thing they called an Ipod!
The walkman was fine. The portable CD player was a huge step forward — you could switch tracks instantly, rather than fast-forwarding for 2-3 minutes on a walkman (then rewinding 30 seconds when you went too far). Then an American most of the world had never heard of unveiled a device that blew our minds. He said this…
“A client doesn’t know what he wants until we tell them, and it’s not a customer’s job to know what they want.”
Wow, that hit me. I never forgot it as I entered the business world.
Why a client doesn’t know what they want in the real world
As a landscaping company owner, I knew my clients ‘wanted’ the shiny porcelain products. They wanted nice lights, sunken hot tubs, water features and fancy designs. But a champagne desire on a lemonade budget never ends well. It often results in a wasted site survey and essentially ‘no deal’ for me or the business.
I quickly figured out I could show them the products I wanted them to choose. As if by magic, 95% of my clients went ‘my way’, buying the products that fitted my business, and their budget, better.
Before you go to see your next client think about what products you prefer using, base this on budget (you should roughly know this based on your finding during the targeting and qualification process) and of course what the clients wants roughly) and watch how the ‘shiny products’ the client ‘thinks’ they want don;t even come into the conversation.
A client doesn’t know what they want until you show them.
How we fix this on our business coaching programmes
These are the basic things we work on within the business coaching programmes at Tradecoach and all our clients are well aware of the importance of not giving clients a plethora of choices (it takes too long and restricts the contractor giving a price in a reasonable timescale as we need to wait on slow suppliers sending over prices) and it works…..
Be mindful of confusing the client because decisions don’t get made when there is too much choice.
Imagine a world where you only use 3-4 products in various colours, pricing is quicker, quotes being sent are quicker, decisions are quicker and installations are quicker and better and more business comes into the business, as does continuity. For more on structuring your sales process, see our business tips for trades business owners.
