Going up the stairs is hard work. Everyone knows it’s better for you to get the exercise, but most people take the escalator. The stairs are hard. The escalator is easy.
But what if you “change the story”? What if you changed going up the stairs from hard work to something people want to do?
Find the fun
Tell a story
Businesses need stories and secret identities too. Not a story about how experienced you are, or your fancy equipment, or even your fancy client list. Instead, you need stories about the satisfaction, the happiness, or the peace of mind that your customers get by working with you.
It’s about helping them achieve their dreams or desires (regardless of whether that dream is a drop-dead gorgeous web site or a house on a lake). Tell them the story of how they can get that dream.
What are your favorite ways to make your clients happy? Share your stories here.
(thanks to Becky Blanton for finding this video and pointing it out)
Jodi, this goes back to the old marketing adage, “Focus on the benefits and not the features.” By focusing on what the client wants, you change the game. Forget what you think is cool about your client, find out what the client thinks is important, and the easiest way to do this is to ask her.
Not only is this a great way to find out how to make the client happy, I’ve found that just asking what makes a client happy is enough to make her happy!
This flight of stairs is cool and fun, but at the end of the day, it’s still a gimmick that will get clients in the door, but won’t necessarily keep them happy. To change the story, you need to care.
Great post. Glad I found your blog.
Hi Adam,
Funny thing, I was just in a forum typing the words “You’ve got to have a big, fat benefit, not features. What does the client get?” You must have been reading my mind!
Glad you’re enjoying my blog.
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