Comments on: Is What You Say What Your Customers Get? http://www.strategystew.com/2008/09/05/is-what-you-say-what-your-customers-get/ Practical Marketing Strategies for Small Business Sun, 29 Aug 2010 00:46:54 -0400 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.1 By: Patti Renner http://www.strategystew.com/2008/09/05/is-what-you-say-what-your-customers-get/comment-page-1/#comment-14 Patti Renner Wed, 10 Sep 2008 13:52:07 +0000 http://www.strategystew.com/?p=24#comment-14 <p>Ivana, You are a very wise woman. How many hours do we spend in discussions, speculating what customers think or want... when we should just have the moxie to go ahead and ask them! It'd be a whole lot easier to market yourself when you truly know what makes you unique in the eyes of your customers. For instance, I wonder if Loreal Cosmetics knows that the only reason I buy their lipstick is for the little chrome "mirror" on the end of the lid. Second thought, I'm sure they know this, or they wouldn't spend money to put it there... but it begs the question. What is my "little chrome mirror" in the way I package my services? Now the scary part is getting around to doing the asking. And not just asking the clients who are "raving fans" of yours, but also the clients who aren't (not that I have any of those... or do I?). I guess I'll have to ask. </p> Ivana, You are a very wise woman. How many hours do we spend in discussions, speculating what customers think or want… when we should just have the moxie to go ahead and ask them! It’d be a whole lot easier to market yourself when you truly know what makes you unique in the eyes of your customers. For instance, I wonder if Loreal Cosmetics knows that the only reason I buy their lipstick is for the little chrome “mirror” on the end of the lid. Second thought, I’m sure they know this, or they wouldn’t spend money to put it there… but it begs the question. What is my “little chrome mirror” in the way I package my services? Now the scary part is getting around to doing the asking. And not just asking the clients who are “raving fans” of yours, but also the clients who aren’t (not that I have any of those… or do I?). I guess I’ll have to ask.

]]> By: Chaitanya Sagar http://www.strategystew.com/2008/09/05/is-what-you-say-what-your-customers-get/comment-page-1/#comment-13 Chaitanya Sagar Sun, 07 Sep 2008 03:55:01 +0000 http://www.strategystew.com/?p=24#comment-13 <p>Ivana, great post. It's always a humbling experience to know truth. But I think we have to have our own 'some words' to explain what we do (more from a product/service perspective) and customers will, based on the benefit they get from you, define your business in their own terms. e.g. a handicapped customer of bus transport might say that the transport company is the 'lifeline of my career' or another customer might say 'I go to work using the company's services' but the transport company will have it's own version of what it does. I think these two are going to be different. I think we have to be satisfied by knowing about it and using it in our strategy but can't 'unify' them. </p> <p>Chaitanya<br /> <a href="http://www.p2w2.com" rel="nofollow">http://www.p2w2.com</a></p> Ivana, great post. It’s always a humbling experience to know truth. But I think we have to have our own ‘some words’ to explain what we do (more from a product/service perspective) and customers will, based on the benefit they get from you, define your business in their own terms. e.g. a handicapped customer of bus transport might say that the transport company is the ‘lifeline of my career’ or another customer might say ‘I go to work using the company’s services’ but the transport company will have it’s own version of what it does. I think these two are going to be different. I think we have to be satisfied by knowing about it and using it in our strategy but can’t ‘unify’ them.

Chaitanya
http://www.p2w2.com

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